According to the nonprofit organization Art in Action, the arts encourage stronger right brain development, the area responsibility for intuition and creativity. Right brain development has the potential to show students the numerous possible outcome for a creative project and empower them through self-expression. Because students also learn that there is no right or wrong answer in creative arts, they also develop critical thinking and problem solving skills and are able to explore different potential solutions. For example, creative writing lets students consider multiple possible endings to a story and choose the most effective one.
Child development is a process in which children gradually move from simple to more complex tasks, writes art therapist Anna Reyner in an article for the "Early Childhood News" website. Whether children are creating visual works in a drawing class or learning to play a musical instrument, the arts provide a natural environment for the exploration that leads to the increase of motor skills. For example, while kindergarteners and first-graders may enjoy manipulating clay and finger paints with their hands, older elementary students can progress to using paintbrushes and sculpting tools.
The rise of computers, tablets and smartphones has lead to a greater need for the arts, writes Grace Hwang Lynch in an article published on the PBS Parents website. Because most children now learn to operate one of these devices before they learn to read, technology takes on a prevalent role in their development. However, activities like music, visual art, dance and creative writing teach critical thinking, emotional empathy and interpretation of visual data -- things they can't learn from an app. For example, playing an instrument teaches students how different uses of dynamics and tone can produce different emotions in listeners.
According to the National Assembly of State Art Agencies, the arts make students better learners. The NASAA reports that numerous studies link music to a better understanding of mathematics, because of its subtle emphasis on rhythm and ratios. Similarly, dance and drama can increase literacy skills, because of their relationship to storytelling. The leading arts education nonprofit organization, Americans for the Arts also concludes that students involved with the arts are more likely to receive academic honors, have better school attendance and participate in community service, which can lead to higher involvement and achievement even beyond elementary school.