Picture this: a tiny, pajama-clad artist standing in the morning light before a blank canvas that stretches as far as their imagination can reach. With toddlers, every day is a blank canvas with masterpieces waiting to be crafted and your little one holding the paintbrush. Every crayon holds the promise of adventure, and each squish of paint between little fingers is a gateway to self-expression and discovery.
Toddler art is about more than just creating something cute and pretty. Allowing your little one the freedom to create and explore their imagination is essential to their development and helps them meet milestones. Finding toddler art activities is a great way to support and encourage them.
Why is Toddler Art Beneficial?
In the toddler mind, art emerges as an invaluable tool to help little ones with fine motor skills, emotional regulation, cognitive development, and more. At its core, art benefits all people in many different ways, and toddler art is no exception. Toddlers crave independence, but most of the time, it’s not as feasible as they would like. However, with art projects, they’re in the driver’s seat. The choices for colors, mediums, and methods allow them to find their sense of self and develop confidence.
This early exploration of self-expression lays the foundation for healthy social-emotional development, providing a safe outlet for them to navigate and understand their feelings. Toddler art is also helpful for parents because it can often help little ones communicate what they cannot express with their words.
Cognitive development also gets a vibrant boost as toddlers engage with art. It helps enhance their problem-solving skills, fine motor skills, and spatial awareness. The creative process itself stimulates critical thinking skills, encouraging little ones to make decisions and learn cause and effect.
Toddler Art in Preschool Prep
At The Breakie Bunch Learning Center, we know that art is an important aspect of learning. STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, is now commonly becoming STEAM, with the addition of art into the curriculum. Our childcare programs focus on all of these disciplines, identifying your children’s strengths and allowing them to truly explore the math, science, and toddler art possibilities before they move on to kindergarten. Even the littlest students in our infant care class get to experience art opportunities because they are integrated into each and every class at our facility.
Our Favorite Toddler Art Activities
We’ve established that artwork is great for the cognitive and emotional development of little ones, but what types of projects are best? The correct answer is whatever your little one loves most! Three types of toddler art we love for beginners are:
- Sidewalk chalk
- Finger painting
- Stamping with ink or paint
Our learning objectives try to incorporate a multi-disciplinary approach, and one of our favorite multi-disciplinary activities is making a nature collage. Start with a scavenger hunt, allowing your little ones to find all sorts of treasures outdoors. Once you have your supplies, arrange pieces in whatever collage your toddler wants, and with a little glue and creativity, you have a nature masterpiece!
Your Budding Artist
Not only is toddler art great for development, but it will help you bond with your child in new and exciting ways. Try incorporating family art and crafts time into your everyday routine. We promise you won’t regret it.