As children make their way back into physical classrooms after an unprecedented year of virtual education, parents and educators must ask a crucial question: What can be done to help returning students cope with feelings of anxiety, depression and powerlessness?

One avenue for encouraging children’s personal wellness is a return to arts education, whose far-ranging benefits traverse their emotional, personal, and academic lives.

Children engage with art in a way that is joyful and curious and encourages exploration of self. Participation in arts education fosters both coping skills and improvements to overall cognition and academic achievement. As such, in the rush to catch students up on math, reading, and science learning lost to the pandemic, it’s critical that the valuable role arts education can play in easing their transition not be overlooked.

Advocacy campaigns like National Arts in Education Week, which took place during the second week of September, make the case for the arts in school with scientifically proven facts illustrating the impact of arts education on children’s social and emotional wellness as well as their academic capability. It is clear that the arts can be a valuable tool in helping kids adjust to the new normal in their scholastic lives.

  • Reducing anxiety, depression, and stress
  • Improving critical thinking
  • Boosting math, verbal skills, literacy, and overall academic achievement
  • Increasing confidence and self-esteem

Read the full article about arts education by Neve Spicer at The 74.