Here’s how drawing helps develop your child’s motor skills
Picking up crayons, drawing shapes or simply scribbling is one of the first things we all do as children. As well as being a lot of fun, there are a few reasons why young kids love to draw and make their mark on just about any surface they can.
During the early years of brain development, neural connections are being created at an astonishing rate. And, along with singing, dancing, and other forms of artistic expression, drawing helps to create those connections and promote healthy brain development.
As you know, we at ESCREO are all about creative expression, so we thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at how drawing help develops infant cognitive function and how you can let your kids express themselves without making (too much) mess.
The artistic connection
As well as being expressive, the arts are deeply cerebral and help us all think and see things differently. And, in kids, this comes in the form of early pattern recognition and abstraction. In the first few years of life where more than 1 million new neural connections form every second, this is essential because as kids get older, the number of connections being formed drastically drops. So, it’s best to encourage them as early as you can.
Here’s how drawing shapes helps kids develop:
Motor skills – Drawing helps to develop gross motor skills, which are the movements of larger muscle groups that help with balance and coordination. It also helps develop fine motor skills, which are the smaller muscles in the hands and fingers, which are essential for writing, drawing and other precise actions that need refined hand-eye coordination.
Language and visual learning – Art lets kids talk about colors, shapes and what they are creating, helping them to expand their vocabulary and verbal expression skills. And, by creating and looking at art, they will learn how to process what they see and better interpret the visual world around them.
Creativity, craftsmanship and imagination – Drawing and basic art help kids become more innovative and original in the way they express themselves. It also encourages them to use their imagination and engage their minds in new ways. For instance, they can create stories around the shapes or images they create and have fun discussing them with parents, teachers or caregivers.
Concentration – Arts and crafts often have an end product. Whether your child is trying to make a perfect circle or colorful square, having such goals can help your child learn how to focus. This also trains them in the importance of following directions, which is both useful for parents and teaches a valuable life-skill for the developing child. And, when it comes to starting school, these skills will already be in place and ready for further development.
Build confidence – Your child will love receiving praise from you on their amazing shape-drawing skills and coloring. By increasing their self-worth, they will feel happier and respond better to your overall parenting. Art can also give children with special needs (such as ADHD and Dyslexia) an outlet to vent their frustrations and communicate in nonverbal ways.
Do it with ESCREO!
Part of expression is the feeling of being free – which is why kids always insist on drawing on the walls, whether or not they are allowed to. With ESCREO’s brilliant CLEAR Whiteboard Paint, you can give them the freedom they want and naturally encourage their creative development.
Trust us, your kids will love the idea of doing something ‘forbidden’ such as drawing on the wall.
The best part is, that with ESCREO, they can draw on the walls again and again with no hassles to you as a parent. All you need to do is wipe away the marker to create a brand-new canvas for the next adventure.
Free motor skills template!
If you have very young children, this is the time to start nurturing their creativity. That’s why we created printable materials, aimed at kids from 3 to 5 years old, featuring simple shapes that can be traced around, coloured in, and practiced. And once they have mastered the templates they can begin drawing free-hand!
Simply download and print the PDF file on thick paper and attach the shapes to your whiteboard wall for your child to outline using dry-wipe markers.
If you have older kids, ESCREO can still be used in many different and fun ways to keep them entertained, whether they are stuck inside because of bad weather, or they want to have some fun.
When you read this, hopefully, the COVID-lockdown era will be over, but our article ‘Activities for children during lockdown’ has plenty of great ideas to try out.
Happy drawing!