7 Benefits of Toddler Painting

There are several brain development activities for toddlers, but few are guaranteed to enhance a toddler’s brain. Activities shape toddlers into adulthood, as their brains subconsciously pick up from the environment and motor skill development.

A common activity that aids the development of a toddler’s brain is painting. Every child  is born with great creative prowess. Often, children tend to flex their creativity in drawing without minding what other people think of their creation. So, encouraging a child to paint is pushing them to unleash their creativity.

The benefits of toddlers’ painting are extensive. The major benefits of painting for a toddler, include:

1. Toddler painting improves colour learning

The most common benefit of toddler painting is improved colour recognition . Seeing that toddlers use different colours to paint, they’ll unveil practical ways to interact with nature. As a parent or guardian, mentioning the names of each colour while they paint can be highly beneficial in helping them with colour recognition and recollection.

2. Toddler painting helps boost self-esteem

Painting is often considered an outward expression of the inner mind, for adults both and children. Allowing kids to paint allows them to re-create pictures from their imagination. Doing this will help them learn to express themselves and boost their self-esteem.

3. Toddler painting helps with communicative abilities

The painting itself communicates inner thoughts and feelings to the outside world. When you encourage your kids to paint often, you’re teaching them the act of expressing their emotions. Through this, they learn to not bottle up their emotions, like anger and pain, but rather engage in activities that let them express these.

4. Toddler painting helps improves motor skills

Motor skills refer to the level of coordination and mobility of a toddler. Painting activities for toddlers benefit the brain and motor development. Because toddlers hold brushes to make stroke movements, and engage the muscles of their hands while they paint, they train their motor skills.

5. Spatial intelligence

Another benefit of painting in early childhood is spatial intelligence. Spatial intelligence helps toddlers create awareness of objects as they relate to each other. It is done mainly by the shapes they create and the objects they draw. Toddlers thus learn how to visualise as well as understand the purpose of an object in space.

6. Toddler painting helps build concentration and patience

Most painters say painting has helped teach them patience and concentration. The same principle applies to toddlers. Painting activities at an early age benefit toddlers’ mental development, which subsequently builds their patience and concentration prowess.

7. Sensory development

Another positive about toddler painting is that they get to engage all their senses while they paint. Experts say toddlers can see their paintings, feel their paintings, smell the colours and hear the strokes of the brushes. All of these combined help to develop a child’s sensory senses.

8. Toddler painting unleashes the creativity

Every child  is born with great creative prowess. Often, children tend to flex their creativity in drawing without minding what other people think of their creation. So, encouraging a child to paint is pushing them to unleash their creativity.

Painting Activities for Toddlers

• Sponge painting
• Painting using a brush
• Painting using a painting software, such as Paint or Whiteboard
• Painting using a paint roller
• Painting using paint straws

To Wrap It Up

The benefits of toddler painting are extensive. Painting is fun and can be a learning avenue for toddlers. During painting, some things toddlers learn are visual expression, spatial intelligence, and colour recognition. Also, toddlers can develop their creative prowess and motor skills when they paint often.

Are you confused about which type of painting your kids can participate in? Pick and choose from below: are there options to be added?

If you want to learn more, call Kids Club Early Childhood Learning Centres or book a tour now of your closest Kids Club Early Learning Centre, click here to view your closest Centre.

Book a Tour!

Call Us

As the leading provider of early childhood care in Australia we always put your child first. We are committed to 7 National Quality Standards. 

References:

[i] Yu, L., & Nagai, Y. (2020). An Analysis of Characteristics of Children’s Growth through Practical Art. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 8(2), 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8020109 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7349711/

[ii] Mak, H. W., & Fancourt, D. (2019). Arts engagement and self-esteem in children: results from a propensity score matching analysis. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1449(1), 36–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14056

[iii] Drake J. E. (2021). How Drawing to Distract Improves Mood in Children. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 622927. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.622927

[iv] Trawick-Smith, Dr. Jeffrey (date). The Physical Play and Motor Development of Young Children: A Review of Literature and Implications for Practice. Center for Early Childhood Education Eastern Connecticut State University. Sourced from: https://www.kidsclubchildcare.com.au/10-things-all-children-need-to-support-good-mentalhealth/

[v] Yu, L., & Nagai, Y. (2020). An Analysis of Characteristics of Children’s Growth through Practical Art. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 8(2), 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8020109

[vi] Roberts, J.L. (Nov 2013) The Power of Patience: Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention. Harvard Magazine. Sourced from: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2013/11/the-power-of-patience

[vii] Yu, L., & Nagai, Y. (2020). An Analysis of Characteristics of Children’s Growth through Practical Art. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 8(2), 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8020109

[viii]   Kupers, E., Lehmann-Wermser, A., McPherson, G., & van Geert, P. (2019). Children’s Creativity: A Theoretical Framework and Systematic Review. Review of Educational Research, 89(1), 93–124. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318815707