Why Art for kids?

Artkids was an imaginative and inspired approach to enriching children’s learning and indeed their lives.

This project is a joyful expression of the capabilities of young children, and a reflection of the competence and respectfulness of the adults - (artists and educators) working with the children. Projects such as these take children seriously, they acknowledge that young children have good ideas, are capable of creating things of beauty and significance and that they have an entitlement to meaningful learning experiences in their quest to understand the world.

The important contribution of the arts to young children’s education is frequently overlooked, yet these can play a critical role in developing the many literacies that are required to live successfully and meaningfully in our contemporary world.

When children have the opportunity to create and explore art through access to quality materials and the focussed attention, interaction and skills of knowledgeable adults, they enter into a world of endless possibilities.

They learn about the physical and scientific properties of materials like clay, paint and markers, how these can be manipulated and how they respond to different treatments (eg firing). They learn about how complex ideas can be symbolically represented in different ways using different materials and, they learn about how art forms are mediums for explorations of emotions and expressions of understandings about the world.

Immersion in a range of art experiences allows children to develop an appreciation of arts as multimodal communication and to learn how to ‘read’ and interpret art.