Little Art Lab

This week in Young Artists, we explored the illustrations of Axel Scheffler and discussed some of the distinctive features of his illustration style.

We started by acting out different feelings and personality traits, thinking about how a character’s facial expression and body language can tell us something about who they are.

We then explored how clothing, accessories, shapes and other visual details can give us clues about a character’s personality and story.

After completing a character design sheet to develop our ideas, the children created their own final character designs.

It was fantastic to see such a variety of characters emerge, each with their own personality!

📚 Young Artists | Ages 5–11
🎨 Wednesdays, 4.30–6pm
📍 Wolverhampton Arts Centre

This week, our Tiny Creatives stepped into the magical world of The Gruffalo! 🌲

We read the brand-new Gruffalo Granny story and got creative with all things woodland themed.

🎨 Made adorable footprint owls
🍁 Used our fingerprints to create autumn trees
👐 Explored playdough to mould our very own Gruffalos
🌲 Worked together on a big collaborative forest painting

I love giving little hands the opportunity to explore, create and get messy while developing those all-important fine motor skills. 💜

✨ Want to join us next time? Our Tiny Creatives sessions are designed for little ones aged 9 months–2 years.

📍 Wolverhampton Arts Centre
🎨 Tuesdays | 10–11am
🎨 Wednesdays | 1.30-2.30pm
💜 Book your place via the link in our bio!

Today in Home Ed Art Lab, we took our inspiration from the incredible nature art of Andy Goldsworthy and created our own artwork using things we could find in nature.

Using leaves, sticks, stones, pinecones, conkers and more, the children worked creatively to bring The Gruffalo to life, creating owls, foxes, the Gruffalo himself and other characters from the story. 🌿

The children experimented with shapes, textures, composition and arranging their materials to create recognisable characters.

They did an amazing job and should be proud of their creations!

A little Little Art Lab milestone! 💜

The room I’ve been using for my classes at Wolverhampton Arts Centre is now officially my own dedicated space and I’m so excited to finally start making it feel like Little Art Lab! 🎨

It’s definitely still a work in progress, but little by little, it’s starting to come together. From painting walls and adding storage to filling the shelves with books, resources and artwork, I’m slowly creating a space that feels creative, welcoming and made for little artists.

I can’t wait to see how it develops over the coming months, filling it with even more artwork and holding more classes!

Watch this space… 👀

This week at Mini Makers, we went on a creative bear hunt! 🐻

Inspired by We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, we explored lots of different textures, colours and tools as we brought the story to life through art.

🐻 Created textured bear collages
🖌️ Painted dark, mysterious caves
🌿 Experimented with different tools to create long, wavy grass
💦 Worked together to paint a deep, cold river

A lovely session full of creative exploration, sensory experiences and teamwork, all inspired by a much-loved story! 📖

🐻

Young Artists, Illustration Studio: Week 2 🎨

This week, we stepped into the world of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and explored the beautiful illustrations of Helen Oxenbury.

We looked at how she uses composition and expressive watercolour techniques to create immersive landscapes.

Then it was time for the children to create their own landscapes, experimenting with a range of new watercolour techniques to see what effects they could achieve. 🖌️

So many different ideas, textures and interpretations and I loved seeing each child make the techniques their own!

🐻

This week at Home Ed Art Lab, we created our own illustrated maps taking inspiration from Michael Rosen’s “We’re Going On a Bear Hunt!”

We started by exploring map symbols then tea-stained our paper to give it an old-fashioned feel. From there, the children planned their own locations, added details and labels and then went over their designs in black pen. ✏️

It was a lovely mix of storytelling, illustration and creative exploration. Children began to tell their own stories about the maps they were making, which was just lovely to hear. 💜

🎨 Home Ed Art Lab
A weekly art session for ages 4–11, exploring a different story, illustrator or creative idea each week.

📍 Wolverhampton Arts Centre
🗓️ Tuesdays | 1–2.15pm

Come and create with us!
Book via the link in my bio.