Introducing: Connect The Dots!
Our newest toy challenges kids to push their creativity and understanding of shape, lines, patterns and counting. Fuelled by their own imaginations, kids will connect the dots on a grid-lined canvas and play with geometry and shape. Connect The Dots’ grid-based design will help lay the foundations of early maths, number sense and spatial awareness while kids unleash their inner artist with this new drawing tool! Plus, each and every one of their unique masterpieces are saved to the Grown-Ups Area of the app, so you can save and share their work for years to come, anytime!
Why is Art Important?
Creating art naturally encourages open-ended play and experimentation for children. By using materials in an unstructured way, art allows for endless exploration and encourages kids to follow their noses. When creating any type of art, kids are practicing important skills that are helpful in all areas of their lives, both today and in the future. It may seem like fun and games — and it is! — but it also makes for an amazing foundation for learning. By flexing their creativity, you will quickly see that your child is picking up skills such as:
Improved Self-Confidence
Whether physical or digital, arts and crafts time for toddlers helps develop self-confidence as they take ownership of something they created all on their own. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of stepping back from a craft or drawing to see what one’s made, and this intrinsic satisfaction is especially exciting and empowering for toddlers who are trying many of these activities for the first time. It also helps children understand the control they have over their own efforts and ideas.
Creating art also support self-love and appreciation by allowing kids to tap into their individuality and what makes them unique. When your child creates something, try to avoid asking about what they made “should” be. Instead, ask your child to tell you about what they made, why they chose to make it, which part was the most exciting/challenging/easy, and if they had fun making it. To keep it even simpler, try an open-ended question like: “Tell be about your picture!” or “I see you used a lot of red. What do you like about the colour red?” These more open-ended questions will encourage your child to open up about their masterpiece and help your child build the confidence to share.
Early Math Fundamentals
Drawing with dots on a grid adds a really exciting layer of spatial awareness and geometry to art time! Through the simple act of connecting dots together and manipulating the canvas, children will learn, create and begin to understand concepts like size, shape, making comparisons, counting and spatial reasoning. Spatial awareness is a crucial introduction to STEM learning, as well as tons of other things in their day-to-day life that rely on their understanding of size, shape and space.
Promotes Creativity
Of course, art is naturally very linked to creativity! Creating something from nothing (or just a few dots on a page) requires children to tap into their imaginations and think outside of the box — no pun intended! Having a sense of wonder and dreaming up new ideas is the foundation for creative thinking, and it’s never been a more important skill for kids to practice than it is today. A study from the International Child Art Foundation notes that “children who are exposed to the arts acquire a special ability to think creatively, be original, discover and innovate.” These may sound just like buzz words, but our future depends on this next generation to discover creative solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems…so a little art can go a long way!
When we encourage our children to explore activities like Connect the Dots, we encourage them to master themselves and their bodies. We give them endless ways to express themselves. As parents, we can offer an environment where it is safe to experiment and create; an environment where questions are encouraged and children have free access to the materials they need and enjoy. This isn’t necessarily to produce career artists, but to raise children who are confident and comfortable with their creativity in whatever form in takes.
We hope that Connect The Dots creates another space for this self-expression and that through its unique play, children find their own voice, confidence and freedom to create. As with all of our open-ended toys, a new world awaits at the touch of a finger. Happy creating!
We’re always so inspired by the way kids interact with Pok Pok and continue to play, learn and grow, and we can’t wait to hear what families like yours think of our newest update! We’d love to receive your feedback, see your play videos and hear your ideas — share your thoughts and say hello at hello@playpokpok.com.
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