portaits

Art Making That Helps Enrich Your Child's Friendships and Social Skills

Our students are blasting off this season with our Fall art program "Once Upon a Paint Drop..." which centers our art making around the big idea of storytelling.  This past week Art Squad (ages 5-11) has been working on a project about our BFF's.  We start by thinking of the fun times with our BFF and what qualities makes them a special friend.  The inspiration leads us to sketching and skill building in portraiture as we honor our BFF with a drawn portrait.

It's amazing what one single lesson in our art program can do to help build excitement and skill build.  We have put together a student gallery below to show the accomplishments our students have made during one class. Many pictures show examples of "before" and "after" practicing. Class time helps to slow down and be mindful of what we are making. Every student works at their own pace, so some kids are still working on drawing, and some have moved onto color mixing.  Pictures of the process and progress are so amazing. See below!

As our students leave class, we want to empower them to be creative in their lives at home.  Students are encouraged to interview their BFF to find out a few new things they never knew before.  This information, along with their portraits will be transformed into a news article headlining their BFF.  We hope this project brings friends closer together, builds excitement to create art, and encourages children to communicate and build their love for writing.  

Comment below to help grow our topic: In a culture of selfies and screen staring, how can we help our young people strengthen human connections and honor others?

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"This is my friend wearing my jacket. Friends Share." 

-Art Student, Age 5