It may not seem apparent at first, but children have life challenges too. And not only what to eat next.
According to Psychology Today, children experience significant emotional challenges brought about by lack of experience and limited perspectives.
These challenges can persist through the years until resolved at some point by life experience, or not.
Many factors will determine how effectively your child can overcome these life hurdles. Factors such as personality, intelligence, creativity, ability to problem solve, among others.
Whatever core attributes your child possesses, they can be enhanced and modified by early engagement with performing arts.
Why is this?
Engaging in creativity, the process of putting two unrelated things together to produce something new, is known by educators and therapists as the best way to grow the brain’s neural pathways and develop fine motor skills, emotional intelligence, and better problem-solving abilities.
In addition, the cultivation of creativity in children is shown to improve performance in other subjects, such as maths and language learning.
From a health and wellness perspective activities such as dancing, ballet, acting, and even singing, are wonderful to get into early. In one way or another they raise the heart rate gently and promote movement and flexibility.
Not only will your child develop alove for a performing art, they will also stay active and healthy throughout life.
The benefits to mental and emotional wellbeing are significant, equipping your child for the world’s challenges in a way that is fun and richly rewarding.
Below we look at some performing arts and what specific attributes they help develop.
Singing
Singing is a cathartic form of emotional expression, even at a young age; it can help a child to express thoughts and feelings they might not fully understand.
Singing helps children get to know themselves better through skilful means. When singing, they have to listen to the song, the sound of their own voice, as well as consider how their voice sounds to others.
This is an excellent means of forming an identity in a child and building their confidence.
Dancing
There are many types of dancing to choose from: contemporary, ballet, and jazz are just a few. Depending on your child’s sensibility one form may be more suitable than the others.
Regardless of the style, dancing is one of the best ways to stay healthy, build a strong body, and improve confidence. Performing arts schools such as Industrie Performing Arts, reports that confidence is one of the biggest gains from dance lessons.
But there are others, such as improvements in social interaction and communication abilities.
Acting
Self-confidence is not the only takeaway from acting classes. With this activity children learn important and sought after life skills such as adaptability and flexibility.
When acting, it’s necessary to adapt to a constant changing situation and to be less reactive; additionally children learn to empathise with other people through storytelling. Improved public speaking in later life can also be attributed to early engagement with acting.
