THE ROLE OF ART IN THE CLASSROOM

By Michaela Reid, Nursery Teacher at Bangkok International Preparatory & Secondary School

I remember being picked up by my mother on my first day of nursery and proudly handing over my first ever painting – a series of blue and yellow lines on an A3 page. I was extremely proud of my boat as it hung in my playroom for years to come, and I remember how my mother’s reaction made me feel wonderful.

Now, as an early years educator at Bangkok Prep, I take great pleasure in seeing children take home their own little masterpieces. Whilst it is known that the role of art in the classrooms is integral and something that we value greatly, how does it really support the development of our children?

Children are naturally curious, and their desire for meaning can be facilitated through creating visual art. A successful creative area will have a huge range of resources from paints, painting tools, paper and junk, and children will be encouraged to explore these resources to imitate what they have observed in the world around them as they recreate their own realities.

Engaging in art activities helps to develop children’s cognition – they learn cause and effect and classification of objects such as shapes, colours and symbols. Children’s ability to problem solve, memorize and visually analyze are also improved. Not only this, but children develop their concentration skills and ability to persevere.

As children begin to learn to collaborate with one another, they partake in group initiatives to complete art projects. I often find children will naturally work together when junk modeling or creating larger pieces. Naturally, their communication skills develop as they articulate how to complete tasks and support each other.

Children are able to express their thoughts and feelings through visual art. Some younger children will mark-make to create images which make sense to them. Mark-making refers to the different lines, dots, patterns, textures, etc. we produce in an artwork. What may appear to be a scribble to us, can be a representation of something a child has experienced, for example, a storm or a feeling. As children develop their mark-making, their visual representations become clearer. They begin to identify their family members, friends and familiar characters in their representations. When mistakes are made or outcomes do not go as planned, children learn how to regulate themselves emotionally and continue to persevere.

As children grasp and manipulate tools, they begin to strengthen the muscles in their hands. These actions help develop children’s fine motor control, and as they do so, the quality of their art work becomes more refined and they gain speed in completing tasks. Fine motor skills are required for everyday tasks such as buttoning clothes, unscrewing lids and turning book pages. Actively creating artwork gives children ample opportunities to unknowingly build upon these skills in the classroom, all while having fun!

For information about Bangkok International Preparatory & Secondary School please call 02-700-5858 or visit www.bangkokprep.ac.th.

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