The advantage of preschool is skills-learning but in a playful environment.
At home, parents should create an environment that allows children to play and give them time to explore. Try to avoid over-scheduling your child. Kids need free time to get creative! You can also help your child think outside the box by providing tools and opportunities for creative play beyond coloring books.
“Play-oriented art along with gentle instruction when your child is ready and open and curious about it is best,” says Nancy Catandella, MSA, director of the Children’s Art and Music Workshop in Woodstock.
“They have their own pace and a sense of owning what they are doing. This all relates to building their self-esteem, pride and identity.” Teachers can teach skills, but only parents and primary caregivers can give their children the disposition to be creative, says McKenzie.
“The most powerful way to do this in early childhood is by modeling. When a mother sings as she does the dishes, her observing child will naturally want to emulate the behavior. The beauty or accuracy of the mother’s voice is not important – even if she can’t carry a tune, she will still be teaching her child that singing is fun and worth doing, and her child will then be inspired to experiment with his own voice.”
When kids are 2 or 3 years old, creativity and the arts are part of their everyday lives, says Nicole Paoli-Ramos, a museum educator and preschool teacher. “My children will find anything to use to make a project. It’s all about how things can be unexpected – mixing one paint color with another makes something new.”