Parents have been urged to encourage their children to draw and create any form of art because it reduces stress and induces positive mental state, especially now when their daily routine has been disrupted by the long closure of schools due Covid-19 pandemic.
A visual artist based in Nakuru, Joseph Chirchir on Monday said drawing enables children to express themselves in relevant, meaningful and appropriate ways beyond what words could express.
‘’Creating art reduces pressure, strain, anxiety, constant worry and nervous tension and through art such as drawing, positive mental energy can be induced because it engages the mind in fresh ways and taps into positive sentiments,’’ he said.
Chirchir said there are many applications on the internet which guide beginners, and he has noted that nothing excites children like when they create their own artwork.
However, he said even without the applications children have drawing abilities and should be encouraged to use them.
He appealed to the government to utilise the visual artists to create a rich memory and archive of the Covid-19 for posterity since humanity was currently going through a profound historic moment.
The artist added that the visual artists’ work of the bubonic plague of the 1920s was being used as a learning process of how to manage widespread health threats in the world.
The Covid-19 global pandemic has intensified stress for everybody because it has disrupted the ordinary and regular schedules people were used to.
By Veronica Bosibori
