Description

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Learn how to set up an organized and inviting home art space for kids and keep them engaged with over 55 art prompts that encourage skill-building and creative exploration.

With an inviting, open setup of art supplies, kids can easily access tools and materials to work through ideas, tinker, discover, solve problems, learn techniques, and create anything they can imagine. Your art space becomes a creative workshop that allows children the opportunity to explore open-ended materials with a sense of independence, confidence, and responsibility.

In The Art Playroom, author Megan Schiller—a Reggio-inspired preschool teacher, art studio owner, and interior designer—guides you step by step through the process of creating an art space for your children and shares her simple approach to encourage creative exploration for years to come.

This book is for parents and caregivers of children ages 2–10, with tips on how to create an art space that works well for a variety of ages. The Invitations to Create offer over 55 ideas for setting up art prompts—categorized by skills and ages—that will spark a creative session with simple materials and minimal setup.

Hesitant about the potential mess? Megan provides a unique solution by combining her background in art education and interior design to help you set up a productive art space for your kids that is also organized, easy to clean up, and looks great!
 
You will learn:
 

• How to set up an art studio for kids, step by step
• How to customize your art space for specific ages, including toddlers, preschool-age kids, and tinkering- and making-focused older kids
• How to introduce the materials to your child
• How to keep your art space organized
• How to keep your children engaged with open-ended art prompts

Invitations to Create focus on building skills such as:
 

• Mastering tools such as scissors, stapler, hole puncher, and hammer
• Fine motor and focus with beading, sewing, and droppers
• Self-sufficiency with squeezing, pouring, and scrubbing practice
• Writing with greeting cards, book-making, and comic strips
• Collaboration with siblings and friends through shared projects
• Science and investigation with chemistry and nature projects
• Making toys and accessories such as clay creatures, dolls, and puzzles

The combination of having an open art studio and setting up invitations to create seamlessly weaves the creative process into children’s daily lives to help them become self-sufficient makers and innovative thinkers. This book, The Art Playroom, is for anyone who wants to foster creativity, independence, and ingenuity in the next generation.

About the Author

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Megan Schiller is an art teacher, art studio owner, and former preschool teacher. She has been blogging about children’s art and creative spaces since January, 2010. She started her business, The Art Pantry, in 2014 as a design studio to help parents set up creative play spaces in their homes and provide ideas on how to engage children in the creative process. She works one on one with clients and also offers a virtual group course and guides through her website. She lives in Mill Valley, CA.

Praise For…

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If you want to raise creative thinkers and value a childhood filled with art-making, tinkering, and self-expression, but you don’t know where to begin, this book was written for you! With beautiful photos, clear guidance, and a nurturing mindset, Megan has created the perfect manual for families who want to give children a space of their own. The Art Playroom will become an essential resource that parents return to over the years as they re-imagine spaces in their homes, discovering time and again that giving children even just a small place to innovate, problem-solve, and make their own choices sets them up for a lifetime of creative confidence.—Barbara Rucci of Art Bar Blog and The Creativity Project

I have been a fan of Megan and The Art Pantry since the beginning. Megan puts deep care and thoughtfulness into everything she does, and this book is no exception. You’re in great hands with all of Megan’s tips and inspiration!—Meri Cherry, Author of Play, Make, Create and owner of Meri Cherry Art Studio