Play Classes

Music Mondays: Come out to Tmuffin to get in some music and movement time. We’ll often shake our shakers with local musician “Mr. Mark” as we make some music to start our week off rockin’. We’ll explore world music rhythms and play with instruments from around the world. Sing along to traditional and original children’s music as we get moving to the beats.

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Muddy Mondays: Come and play with clay with Muddy Schoolhouse instructor Laurel Herbert as she leads the kids on a squishy, muddy adventure learning about pottery and sculpture through stories, games and hands-on art activities. We’ll explore many different types of clay and sculpture mediums like traditional potter’s clay that gets fired in a kiln, modeling clay, oven-bake clay, and even making our own homemade playdough. The children will get to try out new techniques each week as they pound, squish, roll and even throw on the potter’s wheel. It is suggested that you sign up for two or more classes at a time so that your child’s pieces can be dried, fired and painted.  This is one of our most popular classes so reserve your space early.

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“Once Upon A Paintbrush” 1 - Artsy Story Time: “Once Upon A Paintbrush” is a creative and playful class for preschool-aged children led by Muddy Schoolhouse instructor Mrs. Laurel. We base our time on a great storybook and learn to appreciate art through the illustrations. The kids have fun exploring the story through creative movement and dramatic play as well as making their own hands-on creations each week. The children are encouraged to participate at will; some want to explore through play…some want to get messy with the art. Our main goal is to just help develop a new awareness of the spontaneous creativity that can blossom from within a good book.

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Art FUNdamentals for Preschoolers: Our toddler art lessons are created for young children ages 3-6 who are ready to make the transition into attending a class independently.  Our focus is on a teacher-guided, process-oriented art experience.   The children will learn to express themselves and work together as they experiment with a wide variety of art materials and techniques such as painting, printmaking, collage and sculpture.  Our toddler art classes emphasize process over product and encourage self-expression, creative thinking and collaboration.  Children will have many opportunities to explore art materials and learn how to use new tools that help to develop their fine motor skills at developmentally age-appropriate levels.

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Worldly Wednesdays: Art is your passport to the world in this mixed-media art class and multicultural experience.  There is no easier way to appreciate and understand other cultures than by creating your own art with inspiration from art, crafts, stories and songs from around the world.  In a small group setting we meet new friends and create with paint, clay, pastels, pencils and more….but most of all – IMAGINATION!  During each session, Muddy Schoolhouse instructor Laurel Herbert guides the children as they explore and expand their skill levels and interests. Children will work on learning creatively with their minds and bodies. Movement and other sensory activities are often encouraged as children learn not only art, but the give and take of accepting others’ perspectives as part of a global community.

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“Once Upon A Paintbrush” 2 – Artsy Story Time: This creative and playful class is designed to nudge your preschooler into being a little more kindergarten-ready without having to commit to long days of daycare. Just like in Once Upon a Paintbrush 1, kids have fun exploring stories through singing, creative movement and dramatic play as well as making their own hands-on creations. The difference is that we start to focus on letter and number recognition and story comprehension skills as well as dig into the science and history of different themes.  Projects include art techniques such as drawing, painting, collage and construction.  The children are encouraged to work on important pre-K skills like working with scissors, forming letters and counting, with a good mix of creative free play time mixed in.  Some want to explore through play….some want to get messy with the art.  Our main goal is to gently and creatively guide them as they develop their imaginations through a new independence and love of learning.

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Mixed-Media Art Lessons: If your budding little artist wants a chance to expand his or her artistic ability in a group setting then this class is for you.  In this mixed-media class the students will be provided with the foundation that will inform and inspire their creativity and spark their imaginations.  We will explore line, color, texture, shape and pattern as we create 2-dimensional art and 3-dimensional sculptural pieces.  Muddy Schoolhouse instructor Laurel Herbert will guide and encourage the students to expand their art-making into new styles of expression while using a variety of different tools and media.  We cover anything and everything: from drawing, painting and pottery to jewelry making.

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FUNcycle Fridays: Encourage children to think outside the box by using repurposed materials to make imaginative creations. We’ll provide the art supplies if you help us supply the recyclables. Bring in some plastic bottles, cardboard, old egg cartons, baby food jars, tin cans, etc, and we’ll collect them for future projects.

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Mom’s Nights Out will begin again when we open our new location in the spring 2013!