2023 Week of the Young Child: Artsy Thursday

Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves, and to explore what is possible. Maryann F. Kohl

Artsy Thursday is the focus for today in the Week of the Young Child. Children develop creativity, social skills, and fine-motor skills when they engage in open-ended art projects. Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine and feel, and they care more about the process of creating than the making of a product. Preschoolers progress from making accidental marks to intentional pictures with more details and complexity to their creations.

Adults can support a child’s artistic development by providing examples of art (illustrations in children’s books offer different examples), giving children time to explore art materials, and displaying their completed work.

Artistic endeavors and self-directed explorations are not only fun, but educational as well. Art allows children to practice a wide range of skills that include:

• Fine motor skills. Grasping pencils, crayons, chalk and paintbrushes helps children develop their fine motor muscles.

• Cognitive development. Art can help children learn and practice skills like patterning and cause and effect

• Math skills. Children can learn, create and begin to understand concepts like size, shape, making comparisons, counting and spatial reasoning.

• Language skills. As children describe and share their artwork, as well as their process, they develop language skills.

Take some time to celebrate Artsy Thursday with your child. Draw a picture, use chalk outside, cut and glue different items, play with Play-Doh, or explore different art materials together to make a masterpiece and memories.

Interested in learning more about the RPS 205 Early Childhood opportunities for families with children from birth to age 5? Visit the early childhood webpage or call the Early Childhood Screening and Placement Office at 815-229-2103.

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Hillary Cook-Harris

Hillary Cook-Harris is the Director of Early Childhood Curriculum and Assessment. Hillary joined RPS 205 in November 2019. She has been an Early Childhood educator and director for more than 28 years.