Category Archives: visual perception

Art Helps Kids Access the Sun, Moon, Stars

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Original art by Nia, age 9 of Michigan

We all want to help our children reach for the stars and shoot for the moon! Art is such a wonderful way for kids to express themselves, while developing such important skills as creativity and problem-solving. Art – whether in creation or appreciation – entails learning to see, interpret and understand. Children can translate their internal vision or depict images based upon external sources of inspiration, both of which provide young artists with material to draw upon and feed into their art practice.

Original art by Shantrice, age 13 of Michigan who write of her art, “Darkness falls; light revolves”

Explore your child’s unique view! Provide your child with some basic supplies, such as blank paper, pencils, markers and crayons. Strike up a conversation about the stars, moon, planets, as well as our sun and sky. Connect with your child’s natural enthusiasm and clever ideas by encouraging him/her to create art that captures these unique imaginings.

Creativity for Kids

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What color was your day?

Art can be introduced into your child’s life in so many fun ways! Color evokes powerful emotions in us all, and each of us perceives color in different ways. What’s fun is to find out how your child reacts to color as an individual. Forget the preconceived notions of what people are supposed to think about a certain color, which is commonly known as the psychology of color.

Co-create a color wheel, chart or box with your child. You can use the basic colors or add lots of additional colors, depending upon your child’s age and interest. Perhaps your child will want to color white paper to create a personalized palette. Once you have your colors organized, you can have some fun exploring them.

We traditionally greet our child after school with a “Hello, how was your day?” What if you changed this up and said, “Hi, what color was your day?” Instead of hearing the typical, “Fine,” “Ok,” “Boring,” “Hard,” etc, you could engage in a colorful conversation. Your child could use the color palette to express the color or colors of the day that best suits his or her experience. Maybe it was a purple day. The question is: what does that color mean to your son or daughter? So, you’ll have to ask questions, such as: “What made today a ‘red’ day?” Perhaps the day was more than one color, and that’s okay, too. As long as your child does not feel judged for his or her feelings about colors and emotions, then you can give your child yet another way to colorfully express him/herself and expand visual perception. It’s also an imaginative way to show interest in your child.