At Little Steps, we are encouraging our toddlers to find their inner impressionists. Our Mango’s came up with some abstract puppy paintings that are sure to catch your eye!

As we all know, not only painting, but arts and crafts in general, can be a ton of fun! One thing we must remember is, aside from fun, the importance of craft and ingenuity. Simple creative activities are some of the building blocks of child development. The motions that come with painting or scribbling with a crayon are essential to the development of fine motor skills within toddlers. Along with fine motor skills, crafting with kids gives them an opportunity to learn new words, shapes and colors, in turn aiding in your child’s language development. According to a report by Americans for the Arts, art education strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The experience of making decisions and choices in the course of creating art carries over into other parts of life. “If they are exploring and thinking and experimenting and trying new ideas, then creativity has a chance to blossom,” says MaryAnn Kohl, an arts educator and author of numerous books about children’s art education.  As well as problem-solving, language, and cognitive development, art plays a role in children’s inventiveness and visual learning. These skills are more important now than ever! “Parents need to be aware that children learn a lot more from graphic sources now than in the past,” says Dr. Kerry Freedman, Head of Art and Design Education at Northern Illinois University. “Children need to know more about the world than just what they can learn through text and numbers. Art education teaches students how to interpret, criticize, and use visual information, and how to make choices based on it.”  PBSKids states that “knowledge about the visual arts, such as graphic symbolism, is especially important in helping kids become smart consumers and navigate a world filled with marketing logos.”

Here is a book the Mango’s read to wrap up Dog Week!