When Kids Talk about their Art!
There is a moment that happens at Permission To Play that we love so much. It's when kids start to talk about their art.
Not asking if it's good. Talking about it.
They say things like — I used jagged lines here because I wanted it to feel angry. I like the way the bright parts stand out. I don't know why I chose purple and blue. I just really like it.
When kids learn the language of visual art, the way they talk about their work gets richer. And the more they can say about it, the more they enjoy it. Because they're not just making something anymore — they're understanding what they made and what they like about what they made.
We are here to notice.
Every kid who walks in is already making choices. They reach for the purple and blue instead of the red and green. They press hard with the pencil when they're excited and soft when they're being careful. They fill the whole page or they leave space. They're already doing it — and we provide the space to practice, explore, and learn the vocabulary to describe it.
We are here to learn how to talk about it.
Line. Shape. Color. Value. Texture. Form. Space. These are the words artists use to describe what they see and what they make. When a kid learns these words, they can start naming what they're already doing. I used bold lines because I wanted it to feel strong. I chose those colors because they feel calm to me.
When kids learn this language they can see it in their own creations they start to become more intentional about the marks they're making, and more thoughtful about how they're creating then using the words to describe what they see and what they want to show.
That's them understanding their own voice and knowing how to describe what they did.
We are here to notice our own creations and each other's.
Once you have the vocabulary, you stop in front of someone else's work and really look. How the lines feel fast or slow. How the colors make you feel something before you even know what you're looking at.
And then you listen to someone creating next to you and realize they noticed something completely different. And you are both correct.
How the curriculum works.
Permission To Play is a play-based art studio. The majority of every visit is spent creating and playing with what you want, how you want. The curriculum is here for one reason — to give you the language to talk about the creativity that's already inside you.
Every student starts at Level 1 no matter where they are or how much experience they have. Each level gradually builds on the last. There are 32 lessons per medium — watercolor, drawing, painting, cardboard, clay, and storytelling — and kids choose whichever medium they want to work in. By the time you reach Level 32 in a medium you will have practiced 48 hours at being creative in that medium. And that vocabulary and ability to notice art belongs to you forever.
Each visit starts with 10 to 30 minutes of self-guided curriculum at whatever level you're on. Kids move through stations at their own pace with their own lesson card. Then they take that card with them and create however they want for an hour — with whatever materials call to them that day. At the end of every session we come together to share our work, notice what other people made, and talk about it using our artist language.
Once a kid can describe what they're already doing — what they chose and why they chose it — the gap between what their brain wants to show and what their hands can make starts to close. Not all at once. Visit by visit. Mark by mark.
That's what we're building here. Not technique. Not perfection. Kids who hold onto their creativity forever. Who never let go of being excited to create what they want, what they see, what they think is important to show.
Open studio Wednesdays - Fridays
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM and 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
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