Young children's developing brains: 0-3 matters a lot!

The average brain has around 100,000,000,000 neurons - brain cells. And each of these has around 10,000 connections to other neurons! We are born with almost all of our neurons but only about 25% of the connections between them (synapses). By the age of around 3 years we have just about all of the neuron connections. Which connections get made, which are strengthened, and which are lost depends on our early childhood experiences. So what children do in their first three years can be vitally important in influencing their brains.

Children are born creative but that creativity is vulnerable if ignored

Research into levels of creativity in young children has found that virtually all children are born highly creative. Looking at indicators of divergent thinking ("how many uses can you think of for a paperclip?") they found incredibly high levels of creative intelligence in 98% of young children. Five years later, though, only a third of children showed the same levels. Five years later and it was only 1 in 10. So it seems that creativity is vulnerable: if children's creativity isn't appreciated, supported and nurtured, there's a high risk that it will whither.

Creative childhood environments can lead to well-rounded personalities

Several research studies have found that children growing up in environments rich in creative activities, encouraging positive relationships, show different characteristics of brain development leading to the development of more rounded personalities, greater self-esteem and better mental health.

Music for maths, drama for language, drawing for vision, modelling for fine motor skills

Other studies have shown strong links between early musical training and later mathematical ability and language learning, between drama and roleplay and the development of spoken language, between painting and the development of the visual processing system, and between drawing and modelling and the development of details finger work and other fine motor skills.

Developing as a human

But it's not just about creative arts have a positive impact on other parts of children's lives and developing brains: the arts, self-expression, creativity and imagination are an important part of who we are - our souls, if you like. Several studies into different cultures across the globe and into cultures back through history have found that art, music, story-telling and other creative activities are common to almost all peoples. There's some evidence, for instance, that art and music existed long before writing. The expressive arts appear to be a part of who we are as a species. Developing them at an early age is an important part of developing the 'inner worlds' of our thoughts and ideas - the things that turn into our adult lives and careers...

Have you noticed things about how creative arts activities have helped your children develop and grow? Share your stories...