# ![](media/image1.png){width="1.1333333333333333in" height="1.5in"}Archived Information

# #6

# A SMARTER SUMMER: 

# The Arts Advantage

**By Carol H. Rasco, Director, America Reads Challenge**

Is your refrigerator covered with the art of a junior Picasso? If so,
you may already know about the arts advantage in education.

The arts help prepare children to read and write by developing visual
and motor skills. Painting, drawing, and sculpture also help children
learn to make choices, use memory, and express feelings.

The educational benefits of other art forms, like dance, drama, and
music, are also significant. Major studies reveal multiple advantages
when students participate in the arts. The 1999 report *Champions of
Change* found that students who participate in music and theater, for
example, are highly likely to enjoy success in mathematics and reading.

In addition, arts learning helps level the playing field for even the
most disadvantaged children. The arts can reach students who are bored,
failing at conventional studies, or otherwise disengaged from learning.
These "classroom failures" and "problem students" can become high
achievers in arts settings that value diverse styles of learning.

The visual arts, dance, music, and theatre employ multiple skills and
develop abilities that will be highly valued in our children's futures.
The evolving workplace has increased the demand for creative thinkers
who can generate ideas and communicate in a variety of media. The arts
offer excellent training in these critical areas.

Summertime is playtime for many youngsters, with recreation a high
priority. But I urge all parents of young children to make creation a
high value, too. Guiding your children to arts enjoyment during summer
vacation can revitalize learning and open new avenues for expression.

Here are simple tips for giving your kids the arts advantage this
summer.

1.  Seek a balance of activities: indoor and outdoor, group and
    individual, using music, dance, drama, crayons, paint, clay, or
    collage.

2.  Provide choices and let the child discover likes and dislikes.

3.  Focus on the process, not the product. That is the treasure.

4.  Allow enough time to repeat and practice skills.

5.  Encourage the child's free expression and imagination.

6.  Keep activities flexible to allow for flow and spontaneity.

7.  Expose children to works of art through free summer shows and
    exhibits.

(more)

**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 400 MARYLAND AVENUE S.W. WASHINGTON, DC
20202-0107**

Tel: 202/401-8888 Fax: 202/260-8114 E-mail: AmericaReads@ed.gov Web:
www.ed.gov/americareads

**A Smarter Summer: The Arts Advantage (continued)**

-   **Babies:** Music and movement can soothe, stimulate, and teach.
    Make singing a ritual throughout the day. Sway, shake rattles, and
    move the baby's arms and legs to music.

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-   **Toddlers age (age 1-2):** Provide spoons, pots, and bowls for
    drumming. Clap to music and play finger games. Do simple dances to
    develop balance. Animate sock puppets. Use words to develop speaking
    and listening skills.

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-   **Preschoolers (age 2-3):** Pretend to be animals. Ask children to
    respond to different music. Provide dress-up clothes for dramatic
    play. Let children choose the songs, stories, and colors they
    prefer. Use play dough.

-   **Preschoolers (age 3-4)**: Act out scenes from favorite books or
    draw the characters. Try pantomime. Count beats to music. Recite
    nursery rhymes. Improve dexterity by stringing beads or pasta. Make
    collages from household junk.

-   **Primary grades (age 5-8):** Tell original stories. Make story
    books, scrapbooks and portfolios of artwork. Encourage opinions on
    others' art. Practice improvisation. Perform a summer play
    integrating painting, music, dance, and drama.

> Most importantly, make sure it's fun! By nurturing your little Georgia
> O'Keeffe or Alvin Ailey, you can combine creation with recreation, and
> give your child the arts advantage this summer.
>
> *For more tips and activities, see the \"Learning Partners\" booklet
> at www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/LearnPartners/art.html. For more
> information on children and the arts, call (800) USA-LEARN, visit the
> Arts Education Partnership at http://aep-arts.org or visit the Wolf
> Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts at
> www.wolftrap.org.*