Why Art?
The ability to be creative is vital to the success of our children and the well-being of our world. Now, more than ever, as we face incredible challenges such as racial discord, wars, global warming, and massextinctions. Individuals, organizations, and governments seek innovative solutions every day. According to the International Child Art Foundation, “Research indicates that a child who is exposed to the arts acquires a special ability to think creatively, be original, discover, innovate, and create intellectual property—key attributes for individual success and social prosperity in the twenty-first century.”The world needs more and better thinkers.
Art is an activity that can employ all the senses––sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste––depending on the activity. Children’s brain synapses fire away as they experiment and create by squishing paint between their fingers, mixing colors & materials, or drawing from imagination or what they see in front of them.
Gripping a paintbrush, drawing dots and lines, mixing colors, cutting with scissors, controlling a glue stick or squeezing a glue bottle, kneading and rolling clay, and tearing paper—all of these tasks require increasing amounts of dexterity and coordination, yet they are so fun and rewarding that children want to do them over and over. As kids engage in art activities over time, their fine motor skills improve.
Babies and toddlers begin by scribbling randomly, back and forth. But the more they scribble, the more they are able to control the crayon and its movements across the paper. As children learn to control their scribbling, they make a wider variety of shapes, eventually making all the shapes necessary to write the letters of the alphabet—any alphabet.
Open-ended, process-oriented art is an endless opportunity for making choices, coming to conclusions, second-guessing decisions, and evaluating results. Children become more comfortable with uncertainty and remain flexible thinkers, which is key for creativity and confidence. And the more experience they have with a variety of materials and techniques, the more likely they are to try new combinations and ideas.
Children absorb incredible amounts of new information, and they need to process what they have learned in a safe, reflective way. Art allows them to explore feelings and deal with both daily and significant events. Art materials provide a safe outlet for emotions. Feelings and can be reduced to a manageable size and manipulated as desired. Movement, image, color, line, and imagination all help children express themselves in a multidimensional way. This is a way that words may not be able to do, or that may be more comfortable for them than words.
Are you looking for a unique artistic experience for your creative kids that will cultivate your child’s inner artist and develop the skills that will transfer to all aspects of their lives? Then The Art Experience is for you!
Art Experience sessions are more than just your regular, run-of-the-mill drawing and painting class for kids. During an “experience”, expect to mix a bit of science with art, experiment with mediums and techniques, get messy, build literacy, and actively interact with art to create something truly wonderful and unique.
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What Past Artists Say
“Laura and The Art Experience have given me the best gift of all, helping my autisitc son build confidence in himself and take pride in his work”
“My daughter loved when Laura and the Art Experience came to her last birthday party. The Kids had the most fun exploding paint and drawing self-portraits! It was great.”
“My children love Laura and the Art Experience. They come home excited, exhausted, and raring to go to their next art lesson. We are so sad to see her leave Sag Harbor!”