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‘Tis the season, indeed. Everywhere you go now, a cheerful assortment of decorations and ornaments for the festive season greet you. For parents and teachers, it means it’s time to get creative and start crafting! The magic of the season is the perfect chance to get your little ones to be little elves and big helpers and help expend all that holiday energy and channel it into something productive—and creative.
But why do you need to DIY when you can just ‘dash and shop’ or ‘click and collect’?
I’d say, “simply because…” and “fascinatingly so…”
Here are 5 reasons why:
1. We make connections, we build memories. Hit pause and play with your kids. The best way to create memories is to literally create art and crafts with them. The best time is now, because once the festive mood kicks in, the project ideas are countless. Crafting requires hours of planning and creating with your hands. Just think of the conversations you will have with your 3-year-old whilst making a paper star or a cardboard box tree. You get to unwind and chill together and take your mind off work. If you have more than one child, the crafting gets merrier, the bond, tighter. Creating things together fosters a strong bond amongst siblings, therefore healthier social and emotional development, explains Farida Mayar, in her research article, Developing Children’s Creativity Through the Art of Crafts. They learn to plan together, work together, solve problems together and help each other.
2. Children discover their own creativity and imagination and have a glimpse of their potential. In a child’s early years, art activities are a medium for learning about and having an understanding of the world. Engaging in arts and crafts allows children to be imaginative and creative, which fosters cognitive development, according to Alexis Kokkos in his book, “Exploring Art for Perspective Transformation”. Exploring art and discovering one’s artistic skills helps enhance innovative thinking and understanding.
3. They also learn to practice and improve fine-motor skills. Recent studies have shown that engaging in arts and crafts prepares children’s fine motor muscles and control for more complex art endeavors later on. Their small fingers will cut, tear, twist, glue, hold a crayon or a paintbrush, and so on. The older siblings can begin to hand hot glue and tying knots. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)® promotes arts and crafts activities as these provide a strong foundation for important skills later in a child’s academic and practical life—from eating, writing, using tools, to life necessities such as buttoning shirts, or playing musical instruments, typing on the computer, to specializations such as sculpting. Therefore, pinching some glitter and sprinkling it onto the paper snowflakes is the first step your child takes toward learning to tie his shoelace or painting a landscape.
4. Children build a critical skill set: their executive function skills. Executive function refers to a set of skills that help the brain plan ahead, prioritize, meet goals, even stay focused and filter distractions, and display self-control, according to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University1. These skills typically develop most rapidly between ages 3 and 5. Crafting is one of the best ways to improve focus and challenge executive function skills. It allows children to work and go through a creative process as they plan out what they want to create. They figure out what materials to use, what tools are available, and overcome setbacks and problems such as lack of materials or not having enough time. This requires critical thinking, careful planning, and execution.
5. A great opportunity to build language skills. From brainstorming to planning to discussions about what to make, what to use, how to begin and proceed—we engage children in conversations about art and creations. These are communication and general literacy practice at its best. Let them explain why they chose to make a snowman out of paper cups or why the tree is brown instead of green. Through arts and crafts, children learn more about colours and shapes, too.
We craft and create not just because we need some decorations for the living room. Crafting with our children allows for multi-sensory experimentation, conversations, and collaboration—and all the things children need to thrive and still enjoy time with their siblings, and dad and mom. Let children think freely and create according to their ideas. Try to step back and let them lead. Let them figure out that “it won’t work” all the time. Allow them to go through the creative process. The process builds momentum, leading to an outcome, reflection of the ideas, the whole experience, and even the mistakes.
So, if you haven’t crafted much with your children, this is the best time to kick off. Make crafting together a holiday goal this year.
Crafting Basics
Here are some basic craft supplies to keep at home:
Glue, tape, washable markers, Sharpies, pipe cleaners, hot glue gun
felt in a variety of colors, scissors, googly eyes, white paper, construction paper, acrylic paint in a variety of colors, paint brushes, sponge brushes, cotton balls, Q-tips, small squirt bottle, coffee filters, pencils, brown lunch bags.
For upcycled Crafting
Paper towel/toilet paper rolls
Cardboard boxes
Used brown paper bags
References:
1 What Is Executive Function? And How Does It Relate to Child Development? (2024). Retrieved from: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/what-is-executive-function-and-how-does-it-relate-to-child-development/.
Kokkos, A. (May, 2021). “Exploring Art for Perspective Transformation”. Brill Publication: Netherlands.
Jantz, J. (2022). Why Is Art Important for Preschool? 7 Benefits to Know. Rasmusen University, USA. Retrieved from: https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/why-art-is-important-for-preschoolers/.Mayar, F. (June, 2022). Developing Children’s Creativity Through the Art of Crafts. Atlantis Press. Retrieved from https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icece-6-21/125975300.
