My kids are all adults and teenagers now, and in a bizarre Schrödingerian way, they’re still my children, but they’re no longer children.
Every day, my photos app automatically curates our memories in photographic form, which emphasises the existential weirdness of time passing. This morning, I was presented with images of my daughter strumming a full-sized guitar with half-sized hands; my son painting a canvas twice his height; and three excited pre-teens dwarfed by animatronic dinosaurs. The faces in these photographs belong to taller people now and – although a lot has changed – some things remain the same. As parents of grown children acutely understand, these everyday moments are the building blocks of our lives.
The strongest thread running through our shared tapestry is a constant engagement with art in all its forms. Music, visual arts, theatrical performances and literary pursuits feature prominently across every family photo album. With the power of nostalgia and the benefit of hindsight, I can see how crucial the arts have been to my children’s emotional, educational and social development. I can also see how consistent arts engagement has strengthened the cultural microcosm of our family.
Our most recent photographs still consist of shared experiences – plays, exhibitions, films, festivals, conventions and assorted activities – but now, my kids are the ones teaching the art classes, composing the music, and inviting me to accompany them to events. Over time, we’ve come full-circle, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Here are some of my favourite evidence-backed reasons to maximise family arts-engagement, throughout their childhood and beyond.
The benefits of family arts engagement – quick links
Cognitive and educational benefits
There are a multitude of reasons why the arts are integral to both the National Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum. While many of the education benefits derived from arts engagement are self-explanatory, others are less apparent.
We all know that manipulating clay, threading beads and using scissors can encourage school readiness by strengthening hand-eye coordination and fine motor skill development, for example. But did you know that participating in activities like dance, art and music can physically alter a child’s brain?
Longitudinal studies have shown that learning to play an instrument – which comes with lifelong cognitive benefits – causes positive structural changes in the motor and auditory areas of the brain.
Much like musical training, visual arts practice strengthens pattern recognition, problem-solving and experimentation abilities, as well as contributing to the development of practical skills and techniques.
The precise control of muscle movement inherent to activities like drawing, playing an instrument and dancing augment sensory-motor integration and visuospatial orientation on a neurological level – boosting multiple cognitive functions related to learning, memory, attention and executive function – in addition to activating regions of the brain associated with reward and mood regulation.
It’s fairly obvious that engagement in the literary arts can expand children’s vocabularies, introduce new perspectives and enhance communication skills. But a child’s favourite books are also training their brain to analyse subtext, interpret symbolism and intuitively understand the flow of conventional narrative structure. And seeing the film adaptation of a book is more than just a fun family activity, it’s an exercise in understanding how storytelling is mediated by format, culture and audience expectation.
Children’s consumption of digital media – especially video games and YouTube – isn’t always met with enthusiasm from parents. However, encouraging the creation (as opposed to consumption) of screen media could catalyse a life-long passion for a niche career path. Digital art, narrative design, set/prop creation, script-writing, content creation and animation are all creatively-driven interests that could easily develop into specialist skillsets, given sufficient encouragement and digital media training.
Regardless of whether your child prefers to create their own work or appreciate the creations of others, all artforms hold infinite potential for encouraging skill acquisition, boosting cognitive development and improving educational outcomes.
The positive impact that arts engagement can have on a child’s education is powerful enough to mitigate negative factors that might otherwise prevent them from reaching their full academic potential. Whether or not your child intends to pursue a career in the arts, the cognitive and educational benefits of engagement are invaluable contributions to your child’s future.
Social, emotional and cultural benefits
Research shows that families who actively engage in the arts demonstrate enhanced parent-infant attachment, decreased anxiety and stronger connections with their wider community. Consistent exposure to constructive activities within meaningful contexts can promote prosocial behaviours, subtly adding to your child’s social tool box.
Children who regularly attend festivals, readings, films, exhibitions, plays and workshops from a young age grow up with an appreciation of audience etiquette and are able to conduct themselves appropriately in a variety of settings. This isn’t enforced conformity – it’s internalised respect and informed context sensitivity.
Modeling curiosity reinforces to your children that ‘understanding’ isn’t just a word used to describe the desired outcome of a structured activity, but the incidental wisdom that expands through open-mindedness, experimentation, communication and creation.
Curiosity becomes habitual – not just for children, but within the evolving culture of your family unit.
As an added bonus, exposing your child to artistic and cultural experiences automatically enhances your own appreciation, and enables you to revel in your child’s journey of discovery as the world unfolds around them.
The subjective nature of art encourages free interpretation, resulting in a stimulating, respectful sharing of opinions in which everyone’s perspectives are equally valid. Critically responding to artwork leads to complex conversations that might not otherwise be catalysed.
Depending on the nature of the work being discussed, these conversations can cultivate a nuanced understanding of culture, morality, values, history or any other subject, while normalising deep communication across a broad scope of contexts. This sets a precedent of embedding emotional, political, aesthetic or existential exploration as an integral part of your daily life.
Family conversations about a particular play can be as valuable as attending the theatre itself.
Even if your child doesn’t particularly enjoy a specific book, exhibition or activity, the exploration of why they don’t enjoy something encourages the development of discernment, deconstruction, analysis, critical thinking and aesthetic decoding.
The analysis of fictional characters and hypothetical situations can also facilitate psychologically safe examinations of interpersonal dynamics, concepts of morality and questions of identity. And of course, there is a well-established link between reading literature and experiencing enhanced empathy.
The pursuit of artistic endeavours can boost self esteem through the reward of incremental improvement and the satisfaction of creative fulfilment. Specific projects can function as outlets for personal expression or emotional regulation, while shared arts activities provide a solid context for the strengthening of social bonds through genuine mutual enjoyment.
In short, arts engagement can positively impact mental health, enhance emotional resilience and support social cohesion in myriad ways. Consistent creative immersion works cumulatively to cultivate social, emotional and cognitive skills, and these benefits don’t end when childhood does.
One day, possibly when your children are grown and you’re looking back over their childhood photos, recurring patterns across the years will take on new significance, and you’ll have a clearer view of how those building blocks fit together. For now, have fun forming creative family memories. These moments don’t last forever, but the benefits just might.
