Artist Abigail Hunt lead our two day Christmas art course for children, supported by Sabrina Smith Noble who adapted activities for younger children.

We investigated the limitless possibilities of paper for decoration, sculpture, collage and problem solving, sometimes with a curious Christmas twist.

After taking my children to family events as part of Tate Britain’s Big and Small programme, I was inspired by composer Neil Luck and artist Dan Scott’s work for children, that invites them to respond to music through mark making.

We arrived with trepidation on Tuesday morning hoping that our animals had survived the night. To our relief they were still hanging at the edges of our camp, looking even more beautiful as the morning sun shone through the leaves.

This half term Children’s Art School have teamed up with the BIG DRAW to go Wild on Wimbledon Common with Artist and Forest School practitioner Philippa Snell.

I have always loved autumn on Wimbledon Common and enjoy exploring with my two boys; making dens, soaking up the last of the autumn sun, chasing the leaves and wallowing in the mud. It’s  such a wonderful time and place to get creative outside.

Pelham After-School Art Club (Autumn Term Project)

For the first session at the Merton Park After-School Art Club, we decided to take advantage of the late September sun and do some drawing outside. Our focus was on leaves and the variety of shapes they form.

We began by exploring lines and shapes using graded pencils. We experimented with both quick sketches and more detailed studies of the leaves.

On Day 2 of The Art of the Game – our summer Art course for Children devised by artist Sarah Carne - we began by sorting and arranging the numbers into a board.

It was easy to see the mistakes we had made! But we found solutions for all the little glitches!

On this beautiful summer’s day, artist Sarah Carne began our children’s art course by involving them in games to get us making decisions and choices.

We then worked in teams to think about things that make us happy and healthy.

Will you go up? Or down?

This summer artist Sarah Carne will explore in The Art of the Game –  our two-day children’s art course with children – the possibility of building a human scale game similar to snakes and ladders incorporating issues that interest them. These ideas could could be as broad as recycling, climate change, school uniform or the length of their holidays.

They will be encouraged to share and debate opinions – and perhaps disagree, whilst developing skills in making: design, painting and building.

A gallery, two schools and an artist:
in search of missing lessons

The project Hidden Curriculum investigates forms of learning in school outside the official curriculum, and the informal ways in which secondary school students learn from one another.

Day 2 of our Magazines for Kids by Kids course, and artist Ania Bas continued to lead the team of editors in the production of their magazine.

The group began to bond through decision making and collaborative action. Teams were formed for specific tasks and the children worked together to inspire and advise each other.

Slowly ‘The Artist Times’ emerged!

At the Children’s Art School Half Term course children worked as a team of editors to design and create their own magazine by kids for kids.

We looked at magazines and planned what we would like to include.

Children’s Art School are interested in looking at the content that is produced for children’s magazines and asking children to cast a critical eye over the things supposedly produced for them. We will then ask them design their own visual magazine that will be printed professionally.

Pelham After-School Art Club (Autumn Term Project)

This term at Pelham Primary Schools’ art club we will be commemorating Pelham’s willow tree, before it is sadly felled to make room for much needed classrooms.

We started by documenting the tree in preparation for the project. We drew quick sketches and made rubbings outside in fine liner, charcoal, wax and pencil. We looked up into the canopy, at the shapes of the brances, and the texture of the bark up close. We took impressions of the bark by pressing  clay into the surface of the tree.