We usually hear this term as “Arts AND Crafts” but for young children, there is a difference. Understanding this distinction will help adults guide children to explore and grow in both creativity and skills.
Crafts are activities that have a definite end in mind. If you are making a bird feeder, it needs to meet certain requirements to actually be able to hold seed and function as a feeder. A pencil cup should be able to hold pencils when you are finished. Even though there is a lot of room for individual design in crafts, there are still steps to follow and certain guidelines to be met.
Art for young children, on the other hand, is a process, not a product.
Stacey Graves holds a BA in Early Childhood Education and an MA in Instruction Curriculum Leadership. She has extensive experience in art as a process for young children. Graves advocates exposure to a wide variety of materials and media to promote learning art skills. Children will learn these skills as a progression. Before they can draw a picture, they must have experience making lines and arcs and swirls. Each art skill begins with this kind of free experimenting.
When your young artist sits down to create, provide the child with a few materials at a time. One day it may be clay and popsicle sticks. Another day it may be tempera paints with various types of brushes and large paper sheets. As you expose your artist to a wide variety of media, they will find favorites and may request some particular types. Allow them freedom to experiment and create – this is the goal.
Another aspect of the process of art for children that Mrs. Graves discovered is that this type of art exploration is not finished until the artist declares it finished. Many times our schedules dictate that art time is over. If the child needs more time, help them carefully put away the project and make a plan for continuing at a later time. She states ” The child and not the clock decides when the work is finished.”
Both Arts and Crafts are important activities for young children. Knowing the difference will make you able to ensure that you provide both opportunities in ways that will encourage and grow your young artists.