When you look at this preschooler’s artwork, what do you see? You no doubt notice a collection of interesting things in young Reid’s collage, but to us, it reveals much more. What went into making the art is the hidden treasure in that it reflects his adventure in cutting, pasting, coloring and scribbling, which are activities that help him to develop some really important skills.

Cutting promotes the development of bilateral hand use, which means that he’s learning to hold a paper with one hand and cut with the other, so that both hands are working together– no small feat for the little guy.

Pasting helps Reid to develop hand-eye coordination by finding a spot to place the glue using his eyes and attaching something to that spot using his hands.

Using markers helps Reid to develop eye tracking by following along with his eyes as he adds color or lines to embellish his picture. We take these skills for granted because they are easy for us.

For preschoolers like Reid, these skills are developing. Later he’ll use these skills to read left to right, form letters and even add up columns of numbers. Today, Reid is both having fun being creative in Abrakadoodle as he assembles his own collage inspired by American artist Jean-Michael Basquiat, and he is also discovering personal treasure in the form of developing valuable skills that will help ready him for school and so much more.