Every year, more than 14 million Americans of all ages attend summer camp — and with good reason! According to the American Camp Association (ACA), summer camp instills confidence, independence, and inner strength.
While children can enjoy these benefits from most summer camps, another perk of summer camps is that they can be specialized. Many camps focus on a particular area, one or two subjects, or a specific sport or physical activity. One of the best camps to send your child to this summer is an art summer camp. Why the arts?
Learn the benefits of sending your child or children to an art summer camp.
1. A Well-Rounded Child
All of us want the very best for our children, whether they recently finished out the school year in a private preschool, a private middle school, or a public school. That means we hope for our children to become as well-rounded as possible so they will be prepared to take on all life’s challenges. One of the best ways to ensure that children grow into well-rounded individuals is to enroll them in performing arts schools and/or art summer camp.
A study of children who grew up learning the arts revealed that “students who chose an arts elective not only had better grades in elementary school than their peers, but also showed stronger social, behavioral, language, motor, and cognitive skills seven years earlier in preschool,” The Week Writes. To help your child get their foot in the door, encourage and nurture their love for art, music, and/or theater.
2. A Child With Strong Language Skills And A Bigger Vocabulary
Creating art and discussing that process of creating it helps children express themselves and learn new words to describe their art. Art inspires children to put their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, colors, sounds, shapes, and actions into words. Acting classes for young children help them consider how people feel and how they express those feelings. Children who are learning drawing and painting begin to consider what colors suit their art best and why.
3. Children Who Can Make Sense Of Their Inner Worlds
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) reveals that one in six young children — just six to 17 years old — experience symptoms of anxiety or depression. Children in art summer camps indirectly learn how to manage these symptoms from a young age. “Movement, image, color, line, and imagination all help children express themselves in a multidimensional way—a way that words may not be able to do, or that may be more comfortable for them than words,” The Artful Parent explains.
All of us need constructive outlets and safe, productive coping mechanisms. In-person or online art classes for toddlers introduce these important tools at a young age and help children continue to work on them as they learn and grow.
4. An Inspired, Innovative Child
Even in many full-grown adults, innovation and true creativity elude them. Help your child find sparks of inspiration and continue to foster, nurture, and develop original ideas by introducing them to the arts as soon as you can. Art, music, and performance art teach your child to try something again and again. Most importantly, the arts teach your child to take risks when trying something new. This instills confidence and inspires your child to do it again.
By learning inventive thinking and risk-taking at a young age, children develop into forward-thinking teenagers and adults.
In case you haven’t caught on yet, learning the arts can do truly remarkable things for your child. Plus, the arts are ideal right now because they are versatile. They may be taught in-person or through virtual art summer camp classes.
Invest in your child’s personal growth and bright mind. Contact us to learn more about the arts and our summer camp programs.
