Let's Make Art Together!  In this fun interactive class students can bring art materials (crayons, colored pencils, dot markers, play dough, etc.) to class, and they can draw and color and talk about their creations.  We'll talk about colors and shapes, and read a book together (Book to be read may be one of the following: "Anna at the Art Museum" by Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert, "The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Museum Shapes" by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or "I Spy Shapes in Art" by Lucy Micklethwait).  Everyone will get a chance to share their art with the group.

This will be a fun interactive class - a time for the kids to relax and play and talk to each other about what they like to draw/color/paint.  It is a time for socialization and fun.  

But they'll be doing so much more than just having fun - using crayons, colored pencils, and other art materials gives our preschoolers an opportunity to improve their fine motor skills, which helps develop their grip and hand strength, which helps with writing!  During this class they will also get the chance to work on literacy, while learning new words and listening to the story.  They'll also work on math, as we'll practice our colors and talk about the shapes in our art.  We'll also work on developmentally-appropriate social skills - like listening, waiting our turn, impulse control, developing friendships, and being aware of others' feelings.

This class is great for students who like to talk and interact with others and need a social outlet.  But it's also great for students that are shy - having something to do while talking takes some of the pressure off of figuring out what to say and how to say it.  

This will be free-drawing/coloring time for them; this will not be teacher-directed drawing of any one specific item.  Giving preschoolers the chance to use their imaginations and make their own creations, instead of copying what they see others make, provides them the opportunity to explore art in whatever way makes sense to them.