Art and Creativity

Art is important for children especially during their early development. Research shows that art activities develop brain capacity in early childhood; in other words, art is good brain food! Art engages children’s senses in open-ended play and develops cognitive, social-emotional and multi-sensory skills. As children progress into elementary school and beyond, art continues to provide opportunities for brain development, mastery, self esteem and creativity.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Art and Creativity Introduction

Welcome to the community of Art & Creativity, where you can learn about and join discussions on the creative process in child development. We’ll be updating this site with new, stimulating ideas several times each month. Themes and topics will include the significance of art as nourishment for child development, cross-curricular projects, art therapy, and ways to help celebrate the artist in each of us.

This site also includes an archive of ideas and articles, as well as lesson plans from the award-winning books Smart Art and Smart Art 2. Feel free to print out and use any of these lesson plans for staff development and/or educational purposes.

It’s exciting to introduce this new way of sharing ideas about something so important! Who would have thought, just 10 years ago, that we could be exchanging ideas about art and creativity over the Internet? Join us as we explore ideas about art and creativity in early childhood education. Together we’ll explore the world of color and imagination and embark on a path that has no road map. I hope you’ll check in often and share your own ideas.

Please send me your suggestions for themes and topics by e-mailing me at areyner@discountschoolsupply.com