Anime by KidsArt student Aaron, age 11

A child’s creative eye needs as much exercise as any other body part.  Why not arrange for your kids to spend summer break spattered with acrylic paint, peeling dried glue off of fingers and wrestling with mounds of clay?  It is a small sacrifice for fostering imaginative thinking and open-ended creative activity.  You don’t have to look far.  Check out the following local classes and camps in the LA area. 

For those of you who don’t know where to start, the Palette of Art class at KidsArt (which has many locations throughout Southern California) allows students to explore most of the studio’s workshop offerings by giving them a taste of each one. Kids will spend each day for five days pursuing a different project. On Day 1, students learn how to draw and make a favorite cartoon into a three-dimensional paper sculpture. Day 2 focuses on portraiture. Classgoers learn the basic measuring techniques of drawing the human head then apply their new-found knowledge to create a self-portrait or portrait of a family member. In the Cartooning class on Day 3, students learn the fundamental elements of drawing their favorite characters. On Day 4, participants draw, sculpt and paint an animal of their choice in the Clay Sculpture workshop. The final session - Anime - is sure to be a crowd pleaser as students learn to draw popular Anime cartoons. Over the course of the week, your kids will pick up a variety of new skills and be better prepared to decide which workshops they are interested in pursuing in more depth.

At Summer Art Academy, kids who attend the Clay Works Clay Camp in Sherman Oaks will enjoy another hands-on experience.  Participants learn how to throw simple pieces on the potter’s wheel, shape clay into pinch pots, design and construct slab projects, build unique coil vessels, and finish their pieces with various types of decoration and glaze.  This two-week long day camp is for ages 6-14.  Classes are kept small to ensure that kids receive both group and individual instruction.

Join your child (and bring along the grandparents) in an intergenerational class on Japanese Prints and Paintings offered by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  Together you will make prints, ink paintings and sculptures.  Class meets for five Saturdays starting May 31 and is open to students ages 5 - 105.  What an ideal family activity to help bridge the generation gap!   

If sewing or knitting has been on your child’s “want to learn” list, both are taught in Redondo Beach at Sew Creative Café.  Kids classes are offered six days a week in one or two-hour time slots.  Sewing classes are for ages 6 and up (with some reading skills needed.)  Knitting is taught to ages 8 and up.  Students may also alternate between sewing and knitting if they like.

Or for children eager to dabble in more than one media, Brentwood Art Center’s Fine Art Day Camp promises two weeks of painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking geared toward 5-13 year olds.  In the drawing and painting classes, the kids develop their skills while using a wide variety of materials.   Then they will leap into the world of 3-D art as they sculpt with materials such as clay, plaster, wood and wire.  Printmaking promises lots of fun as they create designs and then reproduce them in various colors. 

For a creative class specifically designed for 12-14 year olds, check out the Poster Design class at The Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena.  Students can use ink, stencils, stamps, collage and photographs to design their posters.  They will also focus on composition, conveying messages through imagery, and the fascinating history of posters in art, entertainment and politics.  Class meets Monday and Wednesday afternoons during the month of July.

At the same location on Friday afternoons in August, your 15-18 year old hipsters can try their hand at Radical Knitting.  Using only basic knitting skills, students will have the opportunity to create several small objects or one large sculptural piece.  The finished pieces can then be displayed or proudly used.  Students will also study accomplished artists who use soft sculpture in their current works.

Paintbox Kids, an art studio for the pint-sized, is also in Pasadena.   In August, 5-7 year olds can be creative and learn new building techniques at the same time in the Pre-Engineering with Legos Camp.  Older siblings will be pleased to discover they too can get in on the action at the Engineering Fundamentals with Legos camp, designed for 7-12 year olds.  This afternoon camp will have little Legomaniacs designing and building numerous constructions such as motorized machines, bridges, and catapults.    

After your child’s creative muscles have enjoyed their summer workout, the best part will be witnessing the imaginative output that happens at home.  After attending these summer programs, the knowledge and skills they acquire will stay with them and be sources of inspiration for many future self-directed sessions of creativity.  

Images courtesy of KidsArt, Clay Works, Brentwood Arts Center and Paintbox Kids.

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