Faber-Castell - Molding Young Minds: 4 Benefits to Creating with Clay

You can roll it, stretch it and mold it into practically any shape imaginable, but did you know that playing with clay holds benefits beyond just exercising your creativity? Without even realizing it, while your young artists are molding their masterpieces, they are also molding and enhancing their personal development. Here are 4 benefits of creating with clay:

1. It is Therapeutic

With its moldable consistency, playing with clay can be a calming source of stress relief, similar to the effects of holding a stress ball. On a deeper level, artistic activities open the brain’s reward pathways. What does that mean? Any time your child is crafting, they are regulating their thoughts, feelings, and actions through awakening that part of their brain.

2. Creating with Clay is Sensory Play

Feel the soft texture and see the bright shapes and colors. When it comes to sensory development, creating with clay is the perfect craft to engage touch, sight, and smell. Integrating the senses into your child’s play routine results in cognitive development and builds an understanding of concepts such as memory, problem-solving, and decision-making.

3. It Develops Fine Motor Skills

Playing with clay helps to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. As they cut, flatten, mold, and roll the clay, your child develops a sense of spatial awareness as they discover and explore how size, shape, and texture combine in the objects they are creating.

4. It Builds Creative Confidence

Give your child clay, and their creativity will do the rest. Playing with an open-ended craft encourages imagination and promotes young minds to be creative. It can also be an outlet for children to physically express their emotions through their art. When the project is done, they will feel proud of the masterpiece they have created.

Faber-Castell and Creativity For Kids offer a range of craft kits for children from basic sets of clay with bright colors, to unique painting with clay activities. Young artists can even try their hands at a pottery wheel!