Paper crafts are a great way to get children's imagination get going. Arts and crafts help us slow down, work through a task step by step, and achieve a goal in a world of over-stimulating technology—all while exploring our creativity. Here are seven of our favourite advantages of children's paper crafts.
1. Improving Fine Motor Skills
Paper crafts encourage children to draw, tear, glue, and paint, among other dexterity-building activities. These activities help children improve their fine motor skills and increase their ability to focus for longer periods of time. Children can hold tangible building blocks in their hands with paper crafts, allowing them to focus on each step individually and make adjustments to their motor skills.
2. Fostering Creativity
Are we going to make a flower? Is it a creature? Is it a spaceship? Whatever a child's paper craft turns out to be, the journey began with a piece of paper and followed their imagination all the way to the end. Every decision the child makes along the way is an opportunity for them to express themselves creatively and learn about their preferences. The seemingly insignificant decisions they make, such as colour selection and material preferences, have the greatest impact on the project's outcome.
3. Developing the Ability to Follow Directions
Children can work on following a step-by-step process to complete a project from start to finish if they have a goal in mind. Working through this with the child and allowing them to contribute creatively shows them what they can achieve if they put their minds to it. This lesson also shows how our decisions—and how far we deviate from the "rules"—have an impact on the outcome of any situation.
4. Making Quality Time a Priority
Crafts, like any other activity parents, do with their child, encourage them to spend quality time with the child. Choosing a project, following the steps, and celebrating a goal are all activities that parents and the entire family can do together.
5. Encouraging Critical Thought
Paper crafts encourage critical thinking in children. They have a lot of options as they work on their project, so this is a great opportunity for them to see how their decisions affect the outcome. If they do something well or make a good decision, they are more likely to do it again. On the other hand, if they notice that a decision did not produce the desired result, they can make changes to improve the situation next time. Critical thinking activities encourage children to think out of the box.