For toddlers, arts and crafts only mean fun. However, while they’re busy having a good time, kids are learning and honing important skills without even realizing it. When added to child care curricula, the arts can help develop cognitive, social, and even motor skills. To help you understand how your little one can benefit from their creativity, here are a few ways this helps develop the abilities they’ll use later in life.

3 Areas Arts & Crafts Can Improve in Toddlers

1. Social Skills

During an arts and crafts activity, a child’s inherent curiosity often leads them to engage with other children. They’ll ask about what someone else is creating or talk to each other about their supplies. In addition to socializing and making friends, they learn to share and practice their developing language skills.

2. Fine Motor Skills

Every time they reach for a crayon or dip a paintbrush in watercolor to create an arts and crafts piece, a child is strengthening the muscles in their hands and arms. This will help hone their motor skills, which may even improve their social interactions and help them pay attention and follow directions. This way, incorporating arts into child care curricula not only keeps children happy and entertained, but also helps prepare them for school.

3. Cognitive Development

During the process of creation, children work on their cognitive skills as they plan what they want to create. They begin to see patterns as well as cause and effect links. For example, the color a crayon makes on paper will be different depending on the pressure applied. It also helps to improve memory, as children recall designs and shapes they’ve seen so they can draw or paint them themselves.  

The specialists in early childhood education at Mendon Child Care Center, in Monroe County, NY, understand the importance of play-based learning in child care curricula. Since 1999, their team of CDA-certified teachers has worked hard to provide a nurturing and engaging environment for children to grow and thrive. Visit their website to learn more about their programs or call (585) 624-2337 to schedule a tour.