Graf von Faber-Castell
Our Little Creatives World forms a sound foundation of learning. We build social and emotional connections, practise fine motor skills and encourage exploring sensory experiences. Engaging in ArtPlay activities is a wonderful way to support early childhood development stages. All children benefit in taking part in art! Each child develops, in their own way, all at different stages and that's okay—so be patient and kind, and they’ll shine— each in their own beautiful way.
ArtPlay allows children to dive into their own world of imagination and artistic creations. Young artists create for themselves and naturally focus on their own perspective. They process their world through art, using it to make sense of what they see, feel and do.
So, let their creativity flow and imagination grow! This is an important time to offer young artists care and support. There is no right, no wrong or it how it should be. It's completely fine to just ‘be’! Be full of colour, be a big bright imagination, be an impossible idea—but always let it be a brilliant start to art. Is it a crazy cat, a wonderful whale or an impossible invention? No worries! Art can be anything at all.
Take time, ask interesting art-focused question and listen carefully to discover their creative world. Remember each line, mark, dot and spot may have a purpose or meaning as a part of their Little Creatives ArtPlay world.
Emotional social connections intertwine a sense of self, positive wellbeing and connection to others. It's all about building strong healthy relationships, filled with kindness and sharing with others. When we are patient with ourselves, we slowly grow these heart-strong skills. For little ones, heart-strong emotions can become overwhelming, so forming connections to emotions through art can soothe the mind and foster growth over time.
In a child's early years, emotions can be a struggle. Sometimes we need to stop, give them a snuggle and remind them that everything is alright. ArtPlay helps your little one to build these emotional skills as they play and dabble in art. It's a way for them to express themselves, their ideas and inspirations.
Helpful hand-eye coordination- focus and refine
Hand-eye coordination is vital for brain development, and involves the signals sent to the brain from what your little one sees with their eyes & manipulates with their hands when they create. These skills grow every single day in so many ways, especially through drawing, writing and hands-on sensory experiences. ArtPlay brings fine-tuned hand-eye coordination to life by encouraging regular artistic activities.
Fine motor skills
Grab, grasp, grip, snip, squeeze, squash and splosh—these are all fabulous fine motor skills little ones adore creating with. Building these skills promotes hand strength, an essential part of developing muscle memory that allows young artists to make creative movements without the effort of thinking how to do them.
Scribble
Scribbles, lines and swirls are all crucial for developing hand-eye coordination for early writing stages—and before you know it, little ones are making letter shapes! Crayons feature a larger writing tip surface, helping little ones to connect their crayon to the page to stabilise their first steps in writing. If designed well, easy-to-hold crayons help children transform their scribbles and lines into shapes and letters.
Colourful Creativity – open ending discovery and play
Getting a little bit messy is a part of creative art exploration—particularly when colour is involved. Choosing colours inspires children to think big, make active choices and also helps develop future decision-making skills. The wonderful world of colour is also essential for their emotional development. When little ones make colour connections, it creates an expressive experience—colour can balance emotions and activate the imagination. Exploring colour helps children connect with the world around them by making senses of what they see and how they feel.
Sensational sensory play- hands on experiential learning
Let's squish, squash and roll. When little ones play with their hands, they activate touch receptors. This sends sensory messages to the brain, helping young children develop creative thinking skills essential in shaping future learning. Sensory play is important for children's development—by using touch, little ones imprint learning memories and have sensory creativity sparked. Touch-focused sensory activities help with brain development in young children—for example, sculpting with clay strengthens hands and encourages active minds.
Language skills - speaking and listening
Talk, chatter and natter to your little one while you explore in ArtPlay! Talking and working together with your child assists language development—this includes explaining your thinking, what you’re doing and how you’re solving problems. The more words little ones hear, the bigger the vocabulary they form—like little super-charged sponges, they’re always absorbing new information.
Embellishing ArtPlay with stories is another great idea. Become creative writers and artists by inventing worlds and spinning silly stories together – working side by side, talking as you go, promotes language development and emotional connections in tandem.
Little Creatives has a unique ArtPlay approach. ArtPlay is a wonderful way to explore the concepts of art, imagination and creativity in conjunction with important stages of development in a child’s early years across drawing and writing.
ArtPlay supports the earliest of learners to develop fine motor skills and emotional connections whilst promoting mindfulness, wellbeing, sensory experiences and artistic discoveries. Most importantly, however, it celebrates the joy of creativity. We use early childhood development pedagogy in our activities, supporting your little one to become a confident, creative artist.
You’ll find easy-to-create & adaptable activities that can be short, sweet and sprinkled throughout the day or stretched into hours of fun. We’ll show you exactly what to do, guiding and supporting to you bring out your best—we’ll set you and your little one up for creative ArtPlay success.
It’s important to foster ArtPlay artists in both independent and guided activities
Our ArtPlay activities offer a variety of ways to engage your little one and have been divided into both guided and independent varieties. To begin, start with guided ArtPlay adventures—this is a brilliant time to be a side-by-side learner with your child, exploring and helping them to discover the ArtPlay activities. As they build confidence, let your child work independently and celebrate their art creations with happy high-fives.
It doesn't matter what the result is—whether your little one is a budding Picasso or creates a big beautiful oops—art appreciation is all in the eye of the beholder. We focus on fun in an ArtPlay adventure. We encourage you to give it a go and to purely enjoy the moment. Little ones will all develop differently, but the most important part is knowing where to start!
