Funtastical Studios: Teaching and Creating With Kids

After having a few years off, I have recently returned to teaching art lessons for kids, and after completing my first class it all is coming back to me. I realized how much I really love watching kids create and being able to have some input in teaching them more about art. How can you not have fun when you are offering a smorgasbord of art...or in other words a smorgasbord of messy! So on today's blog I am going to share with you a bit about teaching and creating with kids.

The first step to teaching art to kids involves having a plan! I have learned that having a good pre-planned lesson is very important. Not only having a lesson planned, but also having first done the project that you are planning on doing with your students.

I try to come up with fresh and new ideas for kids to create. Ideas that allow them to try a variety of mediums. I find that most creative people tend to like dabbling in a few different mediums and the best way to find out what you like is to try new things. So I like to give my students the opportunity to work with a different medium each week. I find the same goes true if you are doing arts and crafts at home with your children. They love to experiment and try new things and create new big messes!
Going through the aisles in art stores and craft stores there is so much material out there it can be overwhelming as to where to begin. So I mostly design my lessons around what I have an interest in and the overflow of what I myself have created. I find that creating themes works very well too. The themes I choose also revolve around things I enjoy. I find it much better if you are teaching about things that you really have an interest in and the kids too begin to catch your passion!

One of the most challenging thing I find in teaching kids is planning enough projects for a class. This is challenging because you have some students that finish very fast and others that take twice as long as you had thought. So I always come over prepared with extra projects. But I have also learned to set reasonable time frames for the kids to complete a project and those that are done early have to sketch or wait for the others. My first experience in running a camp was a real learning curve for me as I had one student who finished everything very fast. I wanted to accommodate him so I kept coming up with more and more projects for him to do. Let's just say that by the end of the camp I was exhausted and learned this isn't the best plan!

I have also seen the benefit of making the lessons fun! Although I do desire for them to learn new skills, I also believe in having lots of fun while doing so. I often come up with art games that allows the students to grow in skill but also play at the same time. This also gets everyone working together!

Having some incentives are always a good thing when you are teaching theory. They may not all love coming to a Saturday morning class to hear about art theory so I throw some candy in the mix and theory isn't so bad! I also keep it to a minimum and we do as much hands on as possible.

My most favourite thing is to encourage my students in their uniqueness! I love it when people embrace how truly unique and special they are! After all there is not another person like you! I love to see my students creating from their own style and the uniqueness that is in them. If you are comfortable in who you are you often are comfortable in what you create. So I love to comment on at least one thing that I love about what the kids are creating!

So there are just a few tips that I have learned about teaching kids art! There is much more to share, so I am currently writing a Funtastical Studios Art Curriculum Volume 1. that should be available to purchase in early spring! That will include art lessons from start to finish as well as some more of my tips on teaching! Stay tuned for more.

Happy creating, and for those that have little ones, have fun creating with them! Enjoy the moment!

Trish

Week one: liquid watercolours!