The Importance of Early Art Education Essay Example
The Importance of Early Art Education
The role of art in early education is very important to help children develop the skills necessary in life. Early childhood art education can, and should, take many forms, not just painting or drawing. Art is a great educator, it helps with a variety of different ideas and concepts, not just the ability to represent an object on paper.
Firstly, art can help to develop the fine motor skills that most adults have. Through art, children learn to hold a pencil, or a paintbrush. They learn to develop arm, wrist, hand and finger coordination, as well as coordination of the shoulder. This control does not come automatically, and some children may not have been encouraged in fine motor skills before they reach elementary school.
Secondly, art can encourage observation. As adults, we do not even see what is in front of us. We are too occupied with everyday life, or work, or whatever, and rarely do we stop to enjoy the beauty in the world. Childhood art education can help to train children to observe the beauty around them and to not take it all for granted. The observation aspect of art is important, as this can help children use words, adjectives and nouns to describe what they see. It can encourage the identification of all the colors and the different shades. It can also reinforce the names of shapes, whether objects are round, oval, square or rectangular etc.
But art education can do much more than this. Elementary science can be taught using the mixing of colors. Teachers can have their students feel and experience different textures too. Then there is the child's need to create which is surely encouraged by their artwork. Different tools can be used, for different results. These days there are many different colored wax crayons, which give a different look to felt tipped pens, which are different again from pencil drawings, which again gives a different experience to charcoal.
Remember that art work is not just drawing
The role of art in early education is very important to help children develop the skills necessary in life. Early childhood art education can, and should, take many forms, not just painting or drawing. Art is a great educator, it helps with a variety of different ideas and concepts, not just the ability to represent an object on paper.
Firstly, art can help to develop the fine motor skills that most adults have. Through art, children learn to hold a pencil, or a paintbrush. They learn to develop arm, wrist, hand and finger coordination, as well as coordination of the shoulder. This control does not come automatically, and some children may not have been encouraged in fine motor skills before they reach elementary school.
Secondly, art can encourage observation. As adults, we do not even see what is in front of us. We are too occupied with everyday life, or work, or whatever, and rarely do we stop to enjoy the beauty in the world. Childhood art education can help to train children to observe the beauty around them and to not take it all for granted. The observation aspect of art is important, as this can help children use words, adjectives and nouns to describe what they see. It can encourage the identification of all the colors and the different shades. It can also reinforce the names of shapes, whether objects are round, oval, square or rectangular etc.
But art education can do much more than this. Elementary science can be taught using the mixing of colors. Teachers can have their students feel and experience different textures too. Then there is the child's need to create which is surely encouraged by their artwork. Different tools can be used, for different results. These days there are many different colored wax crayons, which give a different look to felt tipped pens, which are different again from pencil drawings, which again gives a different experience to charcoal.
Remember that art work is not just drawing