How to Nurture a Love of Arts in Your Kids from the Earliest Age

Could your mini edition be the new Michelangelo or Mozart? He may well be, but it’s up to you as his proud caretaker to discover his talents and foster the love of arts in his heart from earliest age. As noble a task as this may sound, it’s often difficult to achieve: getting a small child to calm down and be still for a few minutes is sometimes a mission impossible, let alone cajoling them to take part in a structured, constructive art-focused activity. The good news is there are several easy ways to foster a strong bond with arts in young kids – and an even better piece of news is you can find a few of the handpicked tricks right here.

{ Guest Post by Zara Lewis of High Style Life }

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Create a supportive, creative environment at home

Fostering love for arts will be much easier if your child knows she’s allowed to make mistakes and get messy without the fear of being punished for mischief. Stains and scraps are a normal part of the creative process for kids and adults alike, so don’t limit the child’s freedom to experiment: instead, praise them and encourage them to grow through explorations of different forms of art, such as drawing, painting, pottery, dancing, storytelling, and music.

Make your child feel talents are a source of pride

Have you ever seen kids lose enthusiasm for an activity they were applauded on? Of course not: praise is the best incentive you can give your kid as they make their early journeys across artistic waters. Independent or tutor-guided artistic experiments promote the child’s cognitive, motor, and linguistic development, but in earliest age, the good, old reward trick involving applause and prize in the form of extra TV time will work better than any other incentive.

Related: Educational TV Shows for Toddlers

Gamify artistic projects to add the element of fun

Formal arts classes are too dull to keep small kids engaged, which is why turning artistic projects into a game is a better option if you want to make your child fall – and stay – in love with art. To make the game grow on the child, you can score them and include a cool reward as the ultimate goal of the activity. Most little da Vincis will love the idea of their paintings, Play-Doh sculptures, or coloring book masterpieces being the center of attention at a whole-family exhibition.

Teach your child the basics of different art forms

Most future artists won’t hit jackpot in their first go at arts, but unless you cheer them on, they may never discover their talents. For toddlers, dancing, finger painting, and drawing will make a good starting point for artistic explorations, whereas older kids can try storytelling, pottery, and writing. Once your kid masters writing basics, you can get them a calligraphy pen and encourage them to learn the art of fancy lettering.

Not only will calligraphy help your child develop an eye for aesthetics and jaw-dropping handwriting, it will also boost their cognitive performance and perhaps allow them to turn the art into a lucrative hobby when they grow up.

Get them a real or mock instrument to play with

Many reputed musicians discovered their talents at an early age thanks to their parent’s efforts, and your kid could be the next one if you manage to foster love for music in them. Soundtrack your baby’s life, watch musicals with your toddler, get your kid a real or mock instrument, stage a whole-family karaoke competition, play them the right tunes in the car, and take them to live performances and concerts: when trying to bring up a future rock star, every melody counts in large amounts.

Raising a future artist isn’t an easy task, but it’ll be worth every minute and every nerve invested in the process. If you want to foster love of arts in your kid from the earliest age, follow the tips above and watch your little one grow into the new Freddie Mercury, Picasso, or Fred Astaire. After all, art makes the world a better place, doesn’t it?

Zara Lewis (Twitter: @ZaraELewis) is a mom, fitness & yoga enthusiast and a regular writer for High Style Life. She is devoted to implementing healthy life habits in every aspect of life of her family and friends.

She loves to share her parenting tips and is always open to learning some new skills, because she sees her parenthood as going to school forever. She enjoys traveling, hiking, cycling and baking