Let that inner painter shine this month at the Discovery Museum! As our programming focus in March is about music and art, exploring paint and painting is one of many ways to learn about art making. Whether your little one enjoys finger painting or brush painting, we would love to celebrate their artistic efforts through crafts and art projects this month.
There are many advantages associated with children painting at a young age, including language and social benefits, physical benefits, and science and math benefits. Painting allows for children to develop their communication skills when they explain their artwork; the experience of mixing different colors and painting with a brush helps children develop hand-eye coordination. Sources suggest that allowing children to paint helps them further develop fine motor and gross motor skills. Painting also enhances and gives voice to children’s imagination.
Some of the science and math benefits include developing spatial awareness and understanding volume, by evaluating how much paint is left in a container. The Kern County Schools website also offers some great at-home projects for pre-school aged kids to make art using all kinds of media.
Some of the famous painters and muralists children will learn about at the Discovery Museum this month include Michelangelo, Van Gogh, and Diego Rivera.
Visit us at the Discovery Museum to let your child’s inner artist make memorable works of art, develop important skills, and learn about some of the painters who have influenced our understanding of painted art.
Alexandra Cazares is program coordinator at the Discovery Museum. Discovery Corner is a weekly column in the Sun, highlighting events, science activities, and more for the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum at 705 S. McClelland in Santa Maria. Send comments to discoverycorner@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 22-29, 2012.