Art workshop to boost the talents of children in Oman

Muscat: Keeping children its primary focus, the Bait Al Baranda Museum will soon commence an annual workshop dedicated to bringing out new artistic talent in children.
Marking the International Museum Day at the National Museum of Oman, Amna Al Hamdani, supervisor at Bait Al Baranda Museum, spoke about the importance of encouraging creative arts in the young.
“Arts are one of the natural channels that feed creative talent in children in different aspects, such as art, science and technology,” said Al Hamdani.
According to the Michigan State University Extension, art allows children to practice a wide range of skills that are useful in their everyday lives and also for learning. Children are then able to practice fine motor skills, cognitive development, improve their language skills and math skills.
“By organising this workshop, the children will take advantage of their time to become more productive during their summer break. It will also develop their talent by teaching them different forms of art,” said Al Hamdani.
She further added, “The children will also learn to cooperate with one another through team exercises and create a sense of closeness between themselves by working and getting to know one another.”
The Child Development Institute also reported, “Creating art is a fine way for children to make choices and solve problems. Every step involves making a decision: what colour to use, how to make a line, what size to make something. With every choice the object becomes more and more their own.”
The Bait Al Baranda Museum annually draws between 100 and 120 children that take part in the two-week workshop.
The workshop is divided into four sessions.
According to the museum’s data, 52 per cent of the children are from the ages of six to nine, while the remaining 48 per cent fall in the 10 to 16 years age group.
Some of the art that the children learn to create during the workshop includes drawing, pottery making, Arabic calligraphy, recycling, and photography among many other art forms.