Looking back over another year in the Art Studio reminds me how every year of learning is completely different to the previous one, and that’s the beauty of a child led setting.

The Art Studio is Reggio Emilia inspired space for the 3 and 4 year olds. They come in smaller groups to extend any areas of learning interests through all kinds of expressive arts. It is a purpose built wooden structure set behind the yurt where the children’s voice forms the basis for each following weeks planning and activities. Because of this there is no way of knowing what subjects will be explored and what questions shall be raised by the children. But one thing i do know is;  the combination of their imagination and curiosity, and the art studio’s extensive creative supplies of art, music and visuals makes for a thousand possibilities.

Here’s just some of what we got up to this year-

The year started with an interest in creating structures. I noticed the children using clay, magnets and loose parts to build spaces. This lead onto an interest in castles and 3D shapes which lead the children to compare materials.

As early spring set in the children noticed changes to our trees and the first sign of growth. This was to lead onto a 7 month project exploring plants, flowers and trees, but also lead us to look at different artists and styles of painting. Van Gogh’s sunflowers inspired us to try new ways of painting, as we studied Blossom, Sunflowers and Dandelions.

‘The branches are little paths’

The growth interest lasted the entire Spring and Summer, we dissected plants and vegetables as the children experimented with their own ideas of the hypothesis of the journey from seed to plant. In the Autumn as the trees started changing they became a topic of interest which lead to a tree structure being built from floor to ceiling.

Throughout all of these group interests, individual interests are happening simultaneously and woven throughout each art session. Here’s just a snippet of this years creativity-

Don’t forget to check out our Art Studio video on Youtube-

-Nathalie