As schools close due to COVID-19 concerns and new guidelines on social distancing take effect, many parents are home with their young children—and looking for new ways to keep them occupied while building on the skills they’ve been learning in the classroom. Keeping kids engaged and active (without overusing screens!) can be tough during an unexpected break like this, especially when new safety recommendations put a temporary hold on play dates, restaurant trips, and visits to crowded parks, zoos, and other places kids love.
Parent/Child Art Adventures Studio Workshops
We know there are a lot of activities for your children and are excited to make Art Adventures, an early enrichment league, on the top of your list. We invite you along with your children to join us for engaging art, exploration, science & fun…designed for all ages and skills to excel in their creative thinking, problem-solving, verbal & motor skills, and to leave feeling excited, inspired and proud.
Instill a passion for artmaking with artists, museums, Modern, Multicultural and Contemporary art and current exhibits. See ‘Event Details’ for more information.
- Join the Mailing List for Schedule updates, or inquire about one of our newest Museum & Gallery tours!
- Click Here to form a private group experience. You will receive an invitation letter to share with your class or group to register.
- Contact Us to reserve other days, times, locations.
Thank you for supporting this small business (for over 20 years) and for entrusting us with your children!
Event Details
Each child and one adult will be introduced to Modern and Contemporary artists and Diverse Cultures using a wide variety of media and techniques including (one each class): paint, acrylic pouring, clay (including kiln-fired), wood, encaustics, dioramas, papier-mâché, wire, cloth, photography, animation and more.
Join your child, side by side, in the experience of learning about art through making hands-on projects using unique materials! Claire and other professional visiting artists share unique perspectives. This Art Adventures Studio will meet at All Souls Church to work on museum and gallery-inspired projects.
- Drawing, Painting & 3D Mixed Media
- Explore exciting techniques
- Draw objects, landscapes, portraits or architecture
- Schedule a workshop on a desired day and time or join our e-list for upcoming workshops!
- Nous Parlons Français
Contact Us for days, times, locations or private groups. or projects!
Thank you for supporting this small business (for over 20 years) and for entrusting us with your children!
Academic skills
Give mealtime a math infusion. Do your kids like to help out in the kitchen? Meal prep is the perfect time to get children counting, measuring, estimating, comparing, and recognizing shapes. Ask your child to measure and count cups of ingredients, count how many plates and utensils are needed for the whole family, and figure out who has more or less mashed potatoes. Get creative with math during cleanup time, too: you can have your child name the shapes of the dishes and sponges, count the number of steps they took to complete the cleanup task, and predict how many dishes will fit in the dishwasher. (Want more ideas? Download this free tip sheet for 24 ways to have fun with math at home .)
Supercharge your storytimes. Your daily book reading sessions are golden opportunities to actively build early literacy skills. To boost vocabulary knowledge, watch for words you think your child may not know and briefly define and talk about them. When you reread a book, ask your child if they remember what the word means, and try to use the new words at other times of the day to reinforce knowledge. To build letter recognition skills, try pointing to letters as you say their names, singing a slowed-down ABC song while you point to each letter in the book. Turn to random pages in the book and see if children can name and point to the letters themselves. You can follow up by having your child make their own ABC book, finding or drawing pictures for each letter.
Reread all your child’s comfort books. When you’re home together and it seems like life is slowing down, sink into some comfort rereads of favorite picture books. Kids love hearing the same book many times, and the repetition is actually beneficial to their developing literacy skills, since it gives them multiple chances to absorb the language of the book. If you want to make the most of repeated readings, choose high-quality books with words that stretch your child’s vocabulary and language knowledge.
Make a museum. Your child but can make a museum at home with a little imagination and a few simple materials. If your child has collected little treasures over the years (rocks, shells, toy dinosaurs, buttons, etc.), show them how to arrange their collections in themed displays using shoe boxes, small jars, or egg cartons. Help children label their treasures—a great way to practice letter writing and recognition—and build their language skills by encouraging them to give “tours” of their personal museum to visitors. (While you’re teaching young children at home, a virtual museum tour might also be a fun way to spark conversations about art and history.)
Start a language-rich restaurant at home. If your kids love restaurants, why not start one at home, and use it to help teach language and literacy skills? Stock your play area with empty boxes, food containers, and restaurant props with writing on them, such as takeout menus, placemats, or a newspaper circular. Read the menu with them, or help them create their own menus from scratch. Help kids make a sign with their restaurant’s name. As children play, point out words on the restaurant props and encourage them to spot familiar letters and words.
Create a dedicated writing center. To make writing/prewriting activities inviting to young children, designate a table or desk as your home’s “writing center.” Fill it with open-ended materials that invite exploration and experimentation. Offer kids blank paper in different colors, a small dry erase board, markers, crayons, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, hole punches, and envelopes. Kids who have a variety of materials on hand will be more likely to initiate self-directed writing projects.
Measure their masterworks. Are your kids passing the time by making a long cardboard road for their cars, or building a tall tower with blocks? Dig out your ruler and incorporate a little measurement lesson into their play. Show them how to use the ruler to measure the length of their road or the height of their tower. They might have fun predicting how many inches long or feet high their creations are.
Help math and science skills bloom in your garden. If you’re working on a garden, this is a perfect opportunity to teach math and science concepts while your kids get some fresh air. Have them measure water into a watering can, count seeds, start tallying days on a calendar to keep track of plant growth, and record observations. (If you don’t have a backyard, you can start a windowsill garden with kids. They can measure soil into small pots, count and plant seeds, predict which seeds will sprout first, and make observations.)
Communication skills
Have an adventure—without leaving your living room. Sit with your kids on a rug or couch and pretend you’re leaving for a big adventure on a magic carpet, submarine, or school bus. Ask them to share their ideas on where they want to visit, and take turns concocting a story about your adventure. Describe the sights you see and ask kids questions that invite their creative participation: “Look, there’s a circus! Can you see the elephants? What are they doing?” “Do you see that school of fish? What do you think fish learn about in school?” This is a great way to strengthen communication skills while having fun with kids who feel cooped up.
Put on a play. Encourage your kids to collaborate on a short play using a few puppets. They can adapt a familiar story or fairy tale, or create their own story together. After they put on the play, talk with them about the story and characters, and ask them questions about how they developed the play.
Set up a home office for kids. This is an indoor activity kids love—they’ll enjoy the chance to be “just like you.” Set up a pretend office in a corner of your home where kids can make calls, write letters and “send” them, and type important emails. Be sure to provide lots of varied materials for them to work with: an old keyboard to type with, file folders and paper, a calculator, an old phone (toy or real), pens and pencils, tape, envelopes, rubber stamps, and notepads. Then pretend with them—give them a “call” and ask when the mail will be arriving, or ask to have a face-to-face meeting in their office.
Start your own store. Open your own department store in your room or in the playroom. Encourage kids to play different roles—shopper, sales clerk, cashier—and communicate with each other in character (or you can play one or more roles). This is an ideal activity to try if you’ve been doing spring cleaning; children can browse the items you’re getting rid of and “buy” a few items with pretend money.
Have some flashlight fun. This activity can help boost communication skills while easing your child into bedtime. Once your child is in bed, give them a flashlight and play with it together in the darkened room. Take turns shining the light on different things. Ask your child questions about the items in the room, and talk about what you see. Whisper and laugh together, and make up a silly story. Bedtime chats like these hone language skills while helping your child feel safe, secure, and calm.
Motor skills
Enjoy the outdoors. Engage in outdoor family activities that give your child’s motor skills a pick-me-up. Choose activities that involve both gross motor skills (running, jumping, playing catch, dribbling a ball) and fine motor skills (collecting and sorting objects, using small tools). Go on a family walk and play “I Spy.” Have an outdoor family dance party. Collect things like pinecones, acorns, and pretty stones in a pail, and help your child sort them into groups. Make and hang homemade feeders for your backyard or windowsill birds. Your kids will get critical motor skills practice, and the fresh air and fun will give everyone an emotional boost.
Open your own “art school.” Start by reading your child some favorite picture books and talking about the different techniques the artists used for the illustrations. Then have the child practice fine motor skills by making books or illustrations of their own, using materials such as watercolors, paste, paper, cloth scraps, ribbon, foil, string, stamps, greeting cards, and box tops. When they’re done, your kids can hang their masterpieces in a special gallery area or “read” their illustrated books to you or each other.
Try some target practice. Cut a few 8- to 9-inch holes in a big piece of cardboard, draw a target with chalk on a sidewalk or in your driveway, or pick a target outside, such as a tree, your garage door, or the side of your apartment building. Encourage your child to try to throw a beanbag or small ball through the holes or at the target. Have your child start very close to the target and then move back a few feet, and show them how to throw underhand and overhand. Be sure to cheer for them when they hit the target.
Make egg carton caterpillars. If you use up lots of eggs, here’s a fun fine-motor activity to do with those leftover cardboard egg cartons. Cut the egg section of the cartons into strips, one for each child in your house. Have each child choose a caterpillar body and decorate it with paint or markers or by gluing on different colors or textures of paper. Pipe cleaners make great antennae, and children may even want to add some pipe cleaner legs to their caterpillar. Remind them to draw or glue on a face!
Outline an animal. Does your child have a favorite animal? Draw a simple silhouette of the animal on a big piece of paper and give your child some glue and a bowl of Cheerios or uncooked pasta shapes. Then have the child outline the animal by gluing the cereal or pasta pieces to the page, following the lines you drew. (Always supervise carefully when children are working with small items that could be a choking hazard.)
