Kids love art! Whether they are getting messy with finger paints, drawing with sidewalk chalk, making a collage or coloring in their coloring book, there’s nothing that makes children happier than creating their own art. The benefits of art for kids go way beyond fun. Studies have shown that the process of creating art actually helps support young children in almost all areas of their development!

Here are 5 incredible benefits of letting your child embrace his/her inner artist:

1. Builds Skills & Improves Academic Outcomes

Making art can drastically improve your child’s fine motor skills and enhance their creative problem-solving abilities. Activities like cutting and gluing paper, finger painting, and drawing can help children develop better coordination and dexterity while threading beads and sculpting clay can improve visual-spatial skills. Over time, studies have shown that building these skills translates into better academic outcomes for kids in other subjects including writing, literacy, mathematics, and science. In fact, a report from Americans for the Arts concluded that children who regularly engage in artistic activities are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement!

2. A Voice Beyond Words

Children often use art to help them process their experiences and deal with overwhelming emotions. Art provides kids with critical sensory input and can help children express their feelings in a multidimensional way even if they lack the vocabulary to describe their feelings with words. Even if they aren’t the ones creating the art, just being around art can provide children with enough sensory input to kick start their imagination and engage their curiosity.

3. Encourages Innovation

Art encourages creativity and imaginative thinking, two skills that are increasingly linked with long-term professional success. Art forces children to engage in out of the box thinking and can help them hone their creative problem-solving skills. According to the International Child Art Foundation, “Research indicates that a child who is exposed to the arts acquires a special ability to think creatively, be original, discover, innovate, and create intellectual property—key attributes for individual success and social prosperity in the twenty-first century.”

4. Boosts Confidence & Self-Esteem

Deciding what kind of art to make and what materials they will use are some of the first opportunities for young children to exercise autonomy and make decisions for themselves. By making their own independent choices to express what they are thinking/feeling children build confidence in themselves and their abilities, and learn to feel more comfortable expressing their feelings.

5. Facilitates Bonding

Art can help facilitate communication and bonding between children even if they don’t know each other or don’t share many common interests. Creating art in small group settings encourages cooperative behavior in children, giving them opportunities to practice crucial social skills like sharing, taking turns and working together.