The Wonder of the Arts

Dear Artistic Mom,

Toddlers are natural artists, eager to experiment with color, sound, movement, and form. Parents do not have to wait until formal schooling begins to introduce art education. Some of the most meaningful first lessons happen through simple, playful experiences at home and throughout Southwest Florida.

Watercolors are a lovely place to begin. They are simple, portable, and perfectly suited to Marco Island’s shaded picnic tables and breezy parks. Pack a pad of watercolor paper, a small paint set, a few brushes, a paper cup, and some water. Then invite your child to paint “en plein air,” just like the Impressionists! My daughter and I might choose a palm tree, a flower, or the blue Florida sky and try to paint what we see together.

Drawing can turn even a quiet moment into creative play. Chalkboard walls, like the one outside the Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples, allow children to make sweeping lines and blend chalk with their fingers—an early echo of drawing with charcoal. A chalkboard wall can easily be created at home with a gallon of chalkboard paint. We enjoy a simple game of Pictionary: I draw an object my daughter knows, and she tries to guess it!

For sculpture, few materials are as inviting as playdough. Children can shape animals, flowers, and food, while strengthening fine motor skills. Toddler cameras offer an early introduction to photography, giving children the freedom to photograph without access to your phone! Blocks and Legos offer a first lesson in architecture. My daughter especially loves building recognizable shapes, including giraffes and her favorite landmark, the Eiffel Tower!

The performing arts are equally accessible. Dance studios throughout Southwest Florida, like Dance Arts by Maria, offer introductory classes for children as young as 18 months old. Ballet invites children to practice coordination, memory, confidence, and even a little French! Piano instruction can also begin early, sometimes through brief in-home lessons designed for children as young as three.

Local theater and music programs make wonderful family outings. We loved seeing The Rainbow Fish Musical at Broadway Palm Children’s Theatre in Fort Myers this summer. Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples also offers Broadway Babies, where young children and their caregivers explore music, movement, songs, and theater games together. The Collier County Libraries also host free concerts, giving toddlers an opportunity to hear string, woodwind, and brass instruments in a relaxed setting.

This spring, Baker Park in Naples held a family event featuring child-friendly opera performances, including Jack and the Beanstalk. Events like this make opera feel lively and accessible to even the youngest audience members.

Research suggests that even babies are capable of meaningful participation in the arts. In a 2012 study published in Developmental Science, researchers concluded that “infants can engage in meaningful musical training when appropriate pedagogical approaches are used.” Gerry, D., Unrau, A., & Trainor, L. J. (2012). “Active Music Classes in Infancy Enhance Musical, Communicative and Social Development.” Developmental Science, 15(3), 398–407. Infants who participated actively in music classes also showed stronger development of prelinguistic communication and social behavior than infants who experienced music passively.

The arts give young children opportunities to experiment, communicate, and create. More importantly, the arts encourage children to observe the world with curiosity and care. In Southwest Florida, inspiration is everywhere. Sometimes all a toddler needs is a brush, a song, a stage, or a handful of playdough—and a parent willing to wonder alongside them.