Music, drama, drawing, dance: artistic activities are often seen as a simple hobby, to be dropped when grades go down. Yet they have real benefits for a child or a teenager. You just need to know which ones, because they are sometimes credited with effects that research does not confirm.
What the studies really say
We often hear that music makes children better at maths, or that drawing develops intelligence. The reality is more nuanced, and that is good news: it lets you choose an activity for the right reasons.
In 2013, the OECD reviewed international research on arts education in its report Art for Art’s Sake?. Its authors call for caution: the effects of an artistic activity on other subjects are rarely demonstrated. A few links do stand out, for example between drama in the classroom and verbal skills.
For music, more recent meta-analyses (Sala and Gobet, 2017 and 2020) reach a similar conclusion. When studies are well designed, with a comparison group doing another activity, the effect of learning an instrument on results in maths or reading becomes very small, or even zero.
In other words, we mostly learn what we practise. Researchers call this transfer: it works well between similar tasks, much less between distant fields. That is no reason to give up the arts, quite the opposite. Their benefits are real, but they lie elsewhere than in an automatic rise in grades.
The benefits of artistic activities for schooling
Skills that help in class
An artistic activity calls for efforts that school also requires. By practising them in a setting your child enjoys, they train them without realising it:
- concentration: following a score, finishing a drawing, playing a scene through to the end;
- memory: learning lines for a play, a choreography, a piece of music;
- regular practice: making progress in music or dance takes short, frequent practice, exactly like studying;
- self-expression: speaking in front of others, defending a choice, describing what you see or feel.
These links remain indirect: nothing guarantees that your child will apply them alone when studying. They become stronger when you help them make the connection, for example by pointing out that they learn their lines in small chunks, and that they can do the same for their history lesson.
Self-confidence and perseverance
A child who struggles at school may end up believing they are “no good at anything”. An activity in which they make progress, and where that progress shows (a piece they have mastered, a performance, an exhibition), helps them regain a positive self-image.
It also teaches them that success rarely comes at the first attempt. Missing a passage, starting again, improving little by little: this is a valuable experience for tackling a subject they find hard. Some children have talents that school barely recognises, as the theory of the 8 types of intelligence shows: the arts give them a field where those talents count.
Social skills
Drama, dance, a choir or an orchestra are practised with others. Your child learns to listen, to wait their turn and to play their part so the group succeeds. Playing a character also invites them to put themselves in someone else’s shoes.
These skills are useful at school, in group work as well as in everyday class life.
Balance and the joy of learning
A child who only links learning with tests and homework can grow tired of it. An activity they have chosen and enjoy reminds them that learning can be pleasant. It also offers a moment to unwind and to express emotions in ways other than words.
For a child who drags their feet in the morning, that enjoyment matters. Our article My child doesn’t like school offers more ideas to help.
The arts at school in French-speaking Belgium
In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Pact for Excellence in Teaching created the Cultural and Artistic Education Pathway (PECA). Every pupil, from nursery school to the end of compulsory education, discovers culture and the arts along three lines: knowing, practising, and meeting works and artists.
Cultural and artistic education is therefore part of the common core curriculum. It does not replace an activity your child chooses outside school, but it can give them ideas.
Outside school, the academies (part-time arts education subsidised by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation) welcome pupils from the age of 5. They offer music, dance, spoken word and drama, and visual arts, on a flexible timetable, after school hours.
How to choose an artistic activity for your child
For an activity to bring these benefits, your child must first enjoy it and it must stay manageable. A few pointers:
- Start from what they like: a child who sings all the time, another who draws in the margins of their notebooks, a third who imitates everyone already give you clues.
- Let them try: a trial lesson or a holiday course lets them test an activity without committing for the whole year.
- Check the schedule: one activity too many, on top of homework and sport, can tire them more than it helps.
- Favour regularity: one hour a week, kept up over time, brings more than an intense activity dropped after two months.
- Keep it when grades drop: the music or drama class is often what motivates your child; it is better to lighten something else and organise their study time.
When results do not follow
An artistic activity helps your child feel good and stay confident. It does not, however, replace work on the school difficulties themselves. If grades drop in a subject, the most effective approach is still to work on that subject, with a good study method.
At My Sherpa, an educational advisor chooses a coach suited to your child’s profile. With private tutoring, at home anywhere in Belgium or online, the coach helps your child close their gaps and get organised, to keep time for what they love.
