3 minute read
Be Inspired
The Case for Art
BY CHRISTIN DAUBERT
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MY HEART BROKE WHEN THE “ART CART”
STOPPED going around to classrooms. This reality highlights that we live in a data-dominated world—a measurable world where artificial intelligence and technology influence our daily decisions, from where to focus early education to which route will be fastest on our commute to work.
The loss of the art cart in classrooms sent a message that there was no room in the curriculum for skills that were not measurable by tests. It set up art and creativity as something at odds with the new emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. An evolving world suggests that we pivot to STEM, but should we have to leave the arts behind in order to do so? All of us, but most especially children, need creativity and art to live healthy lives. It’s vital that we as a community make sure our kids have access to the creative outlets that their brains desperately need for development.
Creativity is the freest form of self-expression. Something pure and satisfying is sustained when children are able to express themselves openly and
without judgement. For kids, the desire to create usually stems from their own personal experience and is a way to healthily express their thoughts and feelings. Art (define it however you’d like) is a vehicle to help children process change—moving, loss, new siblings, deployment—be it positive or negative. There’s a reason that art therapy has taken off in the past decade. Creativity also promotes cognitive growth by providing an opportunity to try new ideas, ways of thinking or problem solving. Fun fact: This is also true for adults!
When you’re looking to provide a creative outlet for your children, pay attention to their interests and ideas. This can be done by listening intently to what they tell you, and writing it down. After you listen, offer them a variety of creative outlets.
Creativity isn’t just done with crayons and paper, but it doesn’t require expensive supplies either. String, cut up paper, tape or glue, leaves, playdough, a spatula to bang on a bowl—all of these are tools to help children explore their creativity. It’s important to carve out time to talk about what they create and what they chose. Giving the child choices throughout the process is very empowering for them. It may seem like a small thing to an adult, but in the world of a child who has most of their decisions made for them it is vital. Choosing to color with crayons versus paint, to use tape instead of glue, to tear the paper instead of cutting it, is very validating and freeing. You may discover that exploring ways to create with your child, and participating in children’s forms of expression, awakens your creative soul, too.
Imaginative or creative play is another educational tool. Play helps children create their unique perspective and is an activity that draws on the child’s innate power of imagination. Using open-ended, non-structured play allows children the opportunity to try out new ideas as well as build on and experiment with old ideas.
So why is this important for the education edition? I wholeheartedly believe the education system needs creativity threaded throughout it. Not because it is a “break” in curriculum, but because it is crucial in the emotional and intellectual development of children. We are all born creatives and, unfortunately, the majority of us learn our way out of it.
While adding “art” into STEM and making STEAM is slowly catching on, I’m holding out hope that traditional education systems will do more to carve out space for imagination, creativity and free expression. When we create a system where children are free to share their joy, pain, trauma and imagination, we create a whole child whose essential needs are met so they can better focus on spelling and subtraction. SP
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