Hello Parents!

We just wanted to take a minute to tell you how excited we are to offer art to all of your children for the next three months!!!   As we get closer to the first session, we wanted to check in with you and tell you some more details about our program, and what you can expect.

First of all,   We want them to feel free to get messy.   We will have aprons and smocks available, but this doesn’t always prevent paint from getting on their clothes.   We will have acrylic paints available every week.  Please be sure to have them dress accordingly!   Here is the schedule:

• Thursday: Megan, Nesa, Raina, Lisa and Courtney
• Friday: Susan, Karinsa, Sarah, and Chris

We need volunteers!  Please sign up with your child’s class Shutterfly site.  We would love help setting up, as well as help keeping the supplies in order while the kids make art! There is no need for an artistic background.  Siblings are welcome.

Another great way to help is by donating materials!  We accept all kinds of things!   Examples would be:

• small broken or whole toys
• incomplete games
• wooden blocks, toys, or pieces
• interesting/beautiful/unique fabric pieces
• any paints, glitters, glazes, markers etc.
• small colorful plastic and metal bits
• small boxes
• pumpkins!
• canvas bags
• googlie eyes
• pipe cleaners
• puff balls
• stickers
• paper grocery bags
• Or….what else do you have that could transform into an art supply?

There will be a box in the school lobby for you to drop off your donations.

The heart of our program is to offer the kids an opportunity to freely express themselves creatively – we want them to feel free to respectfully explore the materials available to them in their own unique way.  While we won’t have any expectations of what the finished products should be, we will always be available to share our knowledge about different art materials and techniques to help facilitate their ideas and bring them to fruition.   We want to give the kids a chance to really express themselves however they need.  They will be allowed to collaborate on projects if they want.   There will be simple boundaries in place to promote respect for one another and the materials.

How will this look, you might wonder?  We plan to transform the great room into an art studio each week.  Here we will have four tables with different themes set up.  The kids will be able to spread out on the floor and stage to make their masterpieces.    The tables will be as follows:

Painting and Drawing Table:   Here, the kids will find paints (watercolor, tempura, acrylic), a variety of papers, chalks, pastels, sharpies, pencils, crayons, and inks.   They can explore colors and materials and make wonderful 2 D pieces.  They can also come here to paint any projects they might have built at the project or mixed media tables.

The Clay Table:  This table will be ready for our budding ceramists!  Here they will find a variety of clay modeling tools, slab rollers and of course, clay!   When a child makes a piece, we will fire it in the kiln for them.  Once a month, we will have a glazing session at which time we will check in with any kids who have bisque fired pieces and encourage them to glaze.

The Mixed Media Table:  Here, the kids will find a wide assortment of materials.  There will be certain staples they can expect, such as googlie eyes, pipe cleaners, sparkly magnets (we have approximately 47893109463 of these), and little plastics doodads.  We will be visiting places like SCRAP each week to find new and interesting things for this table.  We will have several hot glue guns available (best)  as well as white and tacky glue.

The Project Table:  Each week this table will be set up with a project for the kids to learn a new craft idea, material or technique!  We will have everything they need to make the project as well as examples.  Each week we will offer a new project.

Feel free to contact us anytime!

Jenny and Melissa

art@swcharter.org