Hobbies are an essential part of maintaining our mental health and wellbeing. As students, most of our children’s time is spent in school and preparing for tests and examinations.  Having a hobby to look forward to also motivates students to get through the school day or week.  When students have something that they do voluntarily and enjoy, it helps them recharge and re-energise.  Other than that, it strengthens problem-solving and motor skills. Looking for a hobby that your child may enjoy, why not let your children learn painting?

Improve Fine Motor Skills

Students who come to my classroom can anticipate a fun-filled lesson. Art-making is a pleasant experience and is suitable for all ages. Our art programme is designed for children with dyslexia in mind. It is a safe place to experiment and create art. They learn to draw dots and lines, paint, mix colours, cut with scissors, tear paper, knead and roll soft clay. While they are having fun, they are also improving on their fine motor skills. To ensure greater success in their artworks, a can-do attitude goes a long way. In our lesson, we always focus on what the students can do, not on what they cannot.

Growing With Each Mistake

In our classes, we view mistakes as bravery.  Making mistakes is inevitable in painting. When painting, things may not go as planned as accidents happen. We need to identify the problem and quickly rectify the mistakes. Try not to get angry when mistakes are made. Once I had a student who spilled water on her painting, promptly she soaked it up and repainted that area. Through art, we develop problem-solving skills that slow eliminate the fear of mistakes.

Bob Ross, the American Painter said, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” We could create birds in the sky if we painted the sun wrongly.

Keep Painting

I was not confident in creating a good piece of painting when I started painting 5 years ago. As I continue to paint more, my skills improve, and I yield better results. The more I paint, the more confident I become. Recently, I painted a picture of a forest with morning sun rays. The result wasn’t good. I tried again, and it looked much better.  Do not be afraid of failure, but have the courage to try.

Recreate Artist’s Painting

Painting regularly keeps me happy. I enjoy watching paintings tutorials on YouTube and would attempt recreating some of them. My favourite YouTuber is ColorbyFelix because of his step-by-step easy to follow video tutorials. By copying his painting, I learn how to paint with greater success.

Compliments

Whenever a teacher, friend, or parent likes and compliments our work, it builds self-esteem. Such affirmation has motivated my student Isaac, to create more artwork since young. His parents commended him not just for the aesthetic appeal of his art, but also for the effort that he put into perfecting each piece. There’s power in words.

Start Small & Experience Success

There is a sense of satisfaction in seeing a completed piece of art. I have explored various mediums of art and my favourite is acrylic paint. During this exploratory stage, I start with a blank A5-size paper to paint as I can learn faster because I can see the whole painting in a shorter time.

Yes-I-Can

There is no greater joy than sharing my skills with my students. By attending my classes, they are empowered to create beautiful paintings, leading to their own personal fulfilment.

I hope that my art lessons will be instrumental in helping my students better express their ideas through art and boost their confidence.

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About DAS ARTVenture

DAS Art Programmes are conducted by DAS Educational Therapists and are designed especially to suit our students.

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Learn more about ARTVenture here