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We are the product of your ancestors, our arts education ancestors. This printable resource shares quotes from six artists and educators whose ideas and actions shaped the course of history. Download the prints ‘The mind is like an umbrella. It is most useful when open.’ – Walter Gropius Walter Gropius was a renowned German architect and the founder of the revolutionary Bauhaus art school. He later moved to the United States, where he influenced generations of designers at th

I am excited to share a new resource for families —an ebook which is all about making art at home using repurposed materials! Download the free e-book What makes this ebook special is that you don’t need to buy new or expensive art supplies. Every project is designed to use items you probably already have around the house—think cardboard boxes, bottle tops, plastic containers, or even natural materials like sticks and leaves. It’s a great way to save money, reduce waste, and

I’m thrilled to announce my brand new Play Shapes resource, designed especially for families to enjoy together! As a special thank you, everyone who joins the Art Play Children Learning mailing list will receive this resource as a free PDF download. What is Play Shapes? Developed in collaboration with Beam Editions, Play Shapes is a 10-page collection of vibrant, playful shapes inspired by celebrated artists like Josef Albers, Bruno Munari, Henri Matisse, and Geta Brătescu. T

(July 31, 2019) Happy new year Art Play Children Learning followers! I hope you have all had a wonderful break. 2020 is well underway for all of us and if you are like me, you will have lots of hopes and ambitions for the year ahead. Sometimes these can be exciting and sometimes these can make one feel overwhelmed. My attitude is to always try to do my best to keep one foot moving in front of the other, even if they are just little steps and always stay open to the unexpected

I have spent the past 4 four years doing my PhD full-time. Day after day. Week after week. Slogging it out on a quest to create new knowledge that advances society. This experience has been exhausting, exciting, intellectually arduous and of course, deeply fulfilling. I mark the completion of the PhD as the moment I passed the viva, which is a final oral examination you do in the United Kingdom at the end of the program. The viva basically involves two academics, who are spec

(January 3, 2018) This post discusses the symposium presentation ‘Material play: children’s learning with new, found and recycled ‘stuff’ given by Professor Pat Thomson, Nina Odegard and Louisa Penfold at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) in Canberra, Australia. Image: Bradley Cummings On November 27, 2017 Professor Pat Thomson (University of Nottingham), Nina Odegard (University College of Oslo and Akershus) and myself (University of Nottingham) gav

(October 30, 2017) In this post I consider the gap between academics/non-academics in children’s art education. A contestable claim but something I believe is worthy of further discussion. I reflect upon my experience of moving from working as a full-time learning curator in an art museum to full-time PhD researcher and what I have learnt along the way. Before starting my PhD, I thought I knew a reasonable amount about early childhood education theory. I had studied an array

(August 2, 2017) This post reports on the ‘Space, materials, the body: Researching young children’s experiences in museums’ symposium held at Manchester Metropolitan University on May 23, 2017. Photo pinched from: underfivesinmuseums.com I almost did not write this post. I didn’t have the mental capacity to do it immediately after the event and now several months have gone by and it seems outdated. However, the ‘Space, materials, the body: Researching young children’s experie

(October 10, 2016) This is a repost from the Centre for Research in Arts, Creativity and Literacies (CRACL) blog. The original post was written by Pat Thomson, Professor of Education within the School of Education, University of Nottingham (UK). We have been conducting an evaluation of learning in the Serpentine’s World without Walls programme. We have just reported on our interim results from an examination of two projects. One was the first instalment of Changing Play, a pr

(February 5, 2016) Late last year I attended and presented at the 2015 ‘Engage’ conference in Glasgow, Scotland. The conference theme was focused on young people’s programs and partnerships with art galleries. You can read my reflections from the conference on the Centre for Research in Arts, Creativity and Literacies blog here.

(July 15, 2021) The folks at 99% Invisible have created some fab new podcasts and articles on the relationship between children, play and the material world. And because I am a massive nerd, I have created summaries of them to share with you! I highly recommend listening to the podcasts (links are included below) as they are entertaining, well-researched and only around 25-minutes long. Isamu Noguchi (design) and Shoji Sadao (architect). Moerenuma Park, Sapporo Japan. 1988-2

(June 16, 2021) Fiber artist Katrina Sánchez Standfield’s giant textile sculptures take weaving to a whole new level. Born in the Republic of Panama and currently living in Charlotte, North Carolina; her art practice explores the connection between color, texture, touch, and humanity. In this interview, Kat shares the experiences, people, and places that inspired her incredible art. “My work explores ideas of community, healing, and renewal align. My artworks require many ind

(October 28, 2020) This post is the third in the ‘Art in Childhood series’ that looks at the experience of famous artists in childhood! The first blog post looked at Australian painter Ben Quilty who shared his story of growing up on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. The second post zoomed in on Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu who talked about growing up in East Arnhem in Australia. Patricia Piccinini is one of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists. Her hyperreal sculptures exp

October 7, 2020 Image credit: Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre This post is the second in a series that explores the childhood experiences of artists. In each post, a different esteemed artist shares their account of the people and experiences that inspired them to pursue a career in the field. The first post featured the story of Ben Quilty who shared his story of growing up on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. This blog post features the work of Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu. Djerrkŋu

(September 23, 2020) This post features a video interview with artist Lorna Rose. She talks about her approach to creative learning, like the importance of flexibility, multiculturalism, and inclusivity in education. We live in a world of great cultural, social, and political diversity. As the great art educator Maxine Greene said, the arts play an integral role in the growth of social cohesion by encouraging children to empathize with others from different background. This w

(January 30, 2020) I recently had an article published in the Weekend Australian that looked at different artists’ experience of art in childhood. You can read the original article in full here: ‘Why teach kids art?’, published in The Australian, September 12, 2020 The article features the stories of four esteemed Australian artists -Patricia Piccinini, Djerrkngu Yunupingu, John Wolseley, and Ben Quilty- who share their experience of art while growing up. Something that I fou

(January 13, 2020) Documenting children’s learning is an intricate process. In this expert interview, Mara Krechevsky, a senior researcher at Harvard’s Project Zero research centre, discusses the ins-and-outs of making learning visible. Documenting children’s learning is a complex and (sometimes) confusing process. Questions of how educators can use documenting to support learning are deeply intertwined with debates surrounding ethical and political assumptions in education.

November 12, 2019 John Wolseley, aged four. Image: the artist This post, featuring artist John Wolseley, is the fourth story in the ‘Art in Childhood series’ that looks at the experience of famous artists in childhood! The first blog post looked at Australian painter Ben Quilty who shared his story of growing up on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. The second post zoomed in on Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu who talked about growing up in East Arnhem in Australia. The third post featured

(July 18, 2019) Artists Lucy Cran and Bill Leslie, otherwise known as the creative duo ‘Leap Then Look,’ have spent the last year putting together participatory art projects across some of London’s most renowned art and education institutions including the Royal Academy of Art, Tate and the Thomas Tallis School. Above: Artists Lucy Cran and Bill Leslie, the creative duo who form ‘Leap and Look.’ Image credit: Alun Callender Their work is underpinned by the philosophy that con