Art
Great Artists in History
Ages 5-10 years
Great Artists in History is a fun filled, educational art program based on some of the most famous artists in history.
Our 2-4 year old class teaches preschoolers basic school and life readiness skills 
through the means of art. Through making art and reading about famous artists, children build creativity, strengthen fine motor skills, socialize with other children, express their feelings through art, learn shapes and colors, and lengthen their attention span, all while having messy fun with tempera paints, pastels, chalk, watercolors, glue, and more.
Children learn a variety of true techniques for creating art and use more materials as they develop their artist capabilities. In this class, our instructor guides and promotes the development of children's creativity as they discover different styles of art and how to create it such as carving a sculpture out of plaster of paris, drawing a self-portrait, painting outdoors to create a landscape, or even making paint from egg yolks and chalk just like Giotto did in the Renaissance era of art.
All of our art classes are accompanied by beautiful popular music from the various areas of art being studied: Debussy, Copland, Gershwin, Ellington, Tchaikovsky, and more!
Artistic Authors Art Class
Ages 2-4 years
All about Eric Carle
This new class will introduce the great children's author, Eric Carle. Students will develop social skills, creativity, language skills, and lots more through the study of Eric Carle's wonderful books. They will learn how to create art in the fantastic style of Eric Carle. They will read about, create, and pretend to be characters like the very hungry caterpillar, brown bear, the very quiet cricket and many others! This class will utilize art, dramatic play, music, and literacy to provide a fun learning experience that any little artist will enjoy!
Many studies have been done in the past two decades regarding the importance of art and creativity in the development of children. Visual art activities work on several important skills in a child's development.
Encouraging creativity. When creating an artistic work, whether it is a crayon drawing on a wall or a developed self-portrait, a child is learning to communicate visually. Maybe they are only drawing what happened that day ("mommy and me at the zoo"), or maybe they are communicating something deeper ("today the cat died and this is me sad"). Many times, young children are only learning to experiment ("red paint and blue paint mixed together make a new color") or learning how to properly use an art tool. Creativity is an important skill that is invaluable at school, in the workplace, and in everyday life.
Increasing fine motor skill function. Whether learning how to cut properly with scissors for the first time, learning how to draw, or attempting to control a paintbrush's strokes on a canvas, a child can learn intricate fine motor skills through the arts that is invaluable to future success.
Developing problem-solving skills. A child wants to recreate a happy memory visually. These thoughts may run through the child's head, "Should I use crayons, pencils, or magazine cut-outs? What kind of paper should I use? The glue is not working properly, what will work better?" Art encourages basic and advanced problem-solving skills in a variety of contexts.
Encouraging self-expression. A kindergartner expresses his happiness through a cheerful painting of flowers and sunshine, a misunderstood teen communicates his frustration through a series of morose drawings, or a young cancer patient paints her visions of heaven. Each example shows a child learning to portray visually what can not be said through words or actions. Self-expression is an important human trait manifested in the visual arts.
Multicultural art activities encourage the acceptance of others. Children can learn about other cultures in a safe and age-appropriate manner through the use of fun multicultural arts activities.
Published by
Sabrina Young - Featured Arts & Entertainment Contributor