Do you remember how proud you were of the crafts you made at school that you brought home to your parents? Though they weren’t anything spectacular, these little projects helped give you a sense of self and a sense of accomplishment.
Creativity and self-expression are critical to your child’s wellbeing, and believe it or not, technology like smartphones can help your child tap into their creative side and learn to express themselves in different ways.
What is self expression, anyways? Self expression is the act of expressing our thoughts, feelings, and ideas in creative ways. Self expression can help your children explore their true selves and find new talents or interests.
Here are a few ways your child’s smartphone can help them express themselves:
1. Exploring New Skills: Art and Photography
If your child is ready to graduate from using crayons and coloring books, they can find every medium they ever dreamed of on the countless number of art apps on their smartphone. Not only can they use these apps to create, but they can also find tutorials and guides to help them develop their talent even further.
Along with art, smartphones can help kids try their hand at photography without needing an expensive camera. Most smartphone cameras nowadays are more than enough for a beginning photographer, and they can help your child decide if photography is something they want to pursue. If art and photography aren’t up your child’s alley, there are many other self expression activities your child can access with their smartphones like creating virtual worlds or writing stories.
2. Managing Disabilities
One of the most amazing things about technology, smartphones included, is it’s ability to help those with disabilities like Autism. Many individuals who struggle with Autism find it overwhelming to be exposed to too much change or interactions at once, but smartphones make communication easier by helping them express themselves and connect with others at a pace that works for them.
3. Sharing Ideas and Creations
Smartphones make communication easier, thus making it easier than ever for your child to share what they’ve created. Whether they’ve developed a cool app with coding or created a masterpiece, they are able to use their smartphone to share their work with friends and family. Your child can even share their work publicly or enter it in competitions if they so desire.
Along with sharing, your child can also connect with individuals and communities that share their same talents and interests. Not only does this help with networking if your child is interested in pursuing a career involving their talent, but it can also help your child find friends and feel a part of something. Be sure to educate them on how to stay safe on the Internet so they know what to avoid when they’re interacting with others online.
Although smartphones, when misused, can have consequences, smartphones aren’t inherently bad. They can help your child learn and grow as they explore, create, and express. If you’re worried about giving your child a smartphone, check out Troomi.com for information and tools that will help your child develop good technology habits and promote safe and healthy smartphone use.