By Ann Marie Raddell, MT-BC, NICU MT, Director of Creative Arts Therapies at The Fine Arts Association
Even outside of traditional music, dance, theater and visual arts classes, simple engagement in the arts is found in the common interaction between adults and children. One may notice a mother comforting her baby with a quiet lullaby or a steady shushing sound. Another may notice a father holding his child while also rhythmically and slowly swaying. A grandfather may share his hat with his grandchild in a manner of playing “dress up.” Whether intentional or not, those biological tendencies have purpose in that they are calming to a young one and allow that child to connect with their environment.
The fine arts allow young children to learn the necessary skills to self-regulate and cope, interact with others, improve focus and cognition, and be more self-expressive. The arts offer a different approach to instilling those needed tools into developing children in an engaging way. The beautiful aspect of artistic expression is that it looks different for each individual child. One child may actively dance and move, while another may quietly observe from a distance. Another child may loudly play a drum, while another may quietly color.
Caregivers of children with disabilities are able to encourage creativity and fun, while also being mindful of the specific needs of the child, whether sensory, emotional, behavioral, cognitive or physical. Those skills can then be transferred outside of the arts classroom into everyday activities or even at home.
Children with disabilities can engage in multiple arts experiences, such as creative movement and dancing, instrument playing and singing, painting and creating with air dry clay, and puppets and roleplaying.
The Fine Arts Association offers a variety of early childhood arts classes for children from birth to age six alongside a caregiver. Not only do the youngest of artists get to purposely learn an art form, such as music, dance, theater and/or visual arts, they also get to bond with a loved one in the process. Visit fineartsassociation.org
