Insights | How do we learn expressive art and design at home?

Children are born to be curious as they are eager to play with anything at hand and explore this unknown world. Art activities provide a good opportunity for them to satisfy their curiosity. They are able to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings through handcraft, drawing, singing, dancing, and other art forms.   Art activities also promote the development of children’s other learning areas. Fine motor skills: Art activities can train flexibility and strength of their hands’ muscles. Practising smaller movements such as smearing, squeezing, cutting, poking, pressing and folding makes children prepared for writing characters.

Cognitive system: Children use their multiple senses to perceive and understand the world when engaging in art activities. They are willing to devote more energy and enthusiasm to things that they are fascinated about, observing them carefully and getting to know their characteristics and properties.Language ability: Children’s interactions with adults when they create arts or introduce their works to others enables them to develop their language ability. While giving positive comments on their works, adults can ask them some questions about their creations. This needs children’s further explanation and clarification of their ideas and helps them to expand their vocabulary. Personal, social, and emotional development: Whether children are introverted or extroverted, art activities are good ways for them to voice their inner feelings. They learned to discuss and share with others in these activities. After participation, they even can acquire basic skills to clean up and tidy which will cultivate their sense of responsibility.

What can parents do to improve their experience of involvement in art activities? To provide open-ended art-related games for children, the first thing we need to give them is time and space. The next is suitable tools and materials. During their creation process, we also should encourage them to try all sorts of materials. In addition to common art tools such as pigment, colour pen, brush, scissor, glue, tape, play dough, signet and craft punch, we also can offer them some unusual materials to arouse their interests and ignite their imagination and creativity.

• Stones, petals, and leaves that are picked up outside
• Old toothbrushes, paint brushes and roller brushes
• Father’s shaving foam and mother’s expired nail polish and makeup
• Waste wrapping papers, newspapers, paper cups, napkins, and straws
• Woollen yarn, cloth, and buttons
• Spray bottles and spice jars
• Leftover vegetables, fruits, and whole grains in the kitchen

For detailed information of the above activities, please check the website: https://artfulparent.com. Respect children’s works and display them on a conspicuous place at your home. This will enhance their confidence in creating arts. Choose art books and beautifully illustrated books for children. When spending parent-child reading time together, you can ask them their thoughts and feelings about these illustrations. Appreciating different types of pictures enables children to gradually improve their aesthetic perception. The charm of music is endless. As children learn a new song, they will hum it repeatedly. They also can feel whether the rhythm is strong or weak and move their body accordingly when they beat a drum. Children also are enthusiastic about dancing which will help them keep energetic and healthy. How can parents do to develop children’s musical sense?

• Listen to melodious children’s song with them. Discuss the lyrics with them and help them understand its meaning. Some popular hits are not our recommendations for pupils as their lyrics are not suitable for pupils to listen to.
• Play different kinds of music for pupils, such as traditional Chinese music, classical music, and symphony. Guide them to identify sounds of different instruments and ask them how they feel.
• Use some simple materials to make metronome. For example, filling the bottle with beans or rice.
• Try to make beats with different body parts, such as patting head and shoulder, squatting and stomping.
• Motivate children to observe people and things around them and conduct pretend play with them, such as pretending to be pets, doctor and patient, police and thief, tree and bird, as well as blowing and raining.

  Here are some music Apps that we would like to share with you.   

The following are art activities and works that pupils completed during this unusual period and shared with their teachers.

Chloe（EY3）

Mancy（EY4）

William（EY4）

Amy（EY3）

Ariel（EY4）

Sarah（EY3）

Wynne and George（EY4）

Eason（EY4）

Emily（EY1）

Jerry（EY4）

Oliva（EY3）