Newsletter #22

Easy Ways to Build Assets for and with Your Child

FAST FACTS Adding the Arts to ASSET #17: Yo u r Family Time

Creative ention painting, many people Activities Mthink of Picasso. Mention music, Youth are more and Mozart, Erykah Badu, Selena, or the likely to grow up Rolling Stones come to mind. healthy when Rarely do we thinkofourselves—or our they spend children—as painters or musicians. three or more Yet, all of us are artists in some way. We hours per week think of creative ways to surprise someone on in music, the- her orhis birthday. We hum a few notes along • Incorporate the discipline of art. Have ater, or other with the radio. We dance around when we’re your child take music or art lessons. Have arts. in a good mood. the family gather around the piano or These small bursts of artistic expression are guitar once a week and sing. Or make time important ways we communicate our daily to sing, rap, dance, do an art project, uniqueness. By bringing more art and music or do a humorous creative skit. 20% into our homes, we can help to develop of youth • Welcome the “noise” your child makes another side of our children’s personalities, when practicing an instrument—treasure surveyed by talents, and skills. the moments when you can hear her or Search Some easy ways to do this: him being creative. Institute have • Become clothing critics. During a this asset in shopping trip, critique the colors, designs, their lives.* and patterns you see on clothes. time • Play magnet art. Visit a museum together toget and walk toward the first painting that her What Are Assets? really catches your eye (draws you to it Three ways to enhance music, art, or Assets are like a magnet). Let each family member theatrical training with your child: 40 values, expe- explain what they like about the painting Set aside an arts area in your riences, and they chose. 1.home. Keep construction paper, qualities that paint, glue, string, scissors, and help kids suc- ether other creative supplies on hand. ceed. “Creative talk tog Show your child art that you’ve activities” is 2.done and show her or him your one of four interests. Doing so may inspire constructive- Questions to discuss with your child: your child. use-of-time • Which do you enjoy most: music, art, Explore the art and music of a assets. theater, or dance? Why? 3.culture that is different from * Based on Search Institute • What activities would you like to try that yours. surveys of 217,277 6th- to you have never tried before? 12th-grade youth throughout the United States duirng the • How can we incorporate the arts more 1999–2000 school year. into our lives? The Power of Music Quick Tip: usic should be prized as an The arts provide fun ways to invaluable way to boost human t with your child. “M connec brain power,” says Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., a research psychologist. She and her colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, have found these positive effects of music: • Children who received eight months of music lessons had a 46% improvement in reasoning skills; kids who didn’t take lessons had only Helpful Hints a 6% increase. Tips that make bringing out the artist in your • Kids who listened to 10 minutes of Mozart before a test had higher child easier: scores than students who sat in silence or listened to relaxation tapes. • Play music when your child is around. Expose her or him to different sounds such The Challenge as light jazz, classical, rock, hip-hop, and Of the four constructive-time-use assets, country. this is the one fewest young people have. Only 16% of boys and 24% of girls have • Emphasize that the importance of partici- this asset. Are we limiting arts pating in the arts is enjoyment, not neces- involvement only to those who have the sarily becoming the greatest performer. most obvious talent? • Display your child’s artwork at➠ home or work—maybe even the local library. More Help for Parents • Bring out the writer in your child. Begin an Growing Up Creative: Nurturing a Lifetime of Creativity ongoing story. Write an opening line on a Teresa M. Amabile give piece of paper placed in a busy area of your s practical, helpful tips on how to develop your ch ild’s creativity. (Published by Creative Education by home so others can make additions. Foundation.)

FiNaL WoRD “Inside you there’s an artist you don’t know about.” —Jalal-Uddin Rumi

This newsletter and other asset resources are produced by Search Institute, www.search-institute.org; 800-888-7828. Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005 by Search Institute. Major support for Search Institute’s Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth initiative is provided by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.