Kids Art Works is also involved in curriculum development and provides lesson plans suitable for Primary and Kindergarten children. To help ensure that the art produced by the children for their calendars and/or cards is of a high standard, we've carefully chosen techniques especially suited to our colour laser copying and calendar and card making process. We hope your teachers enjoy using them as much as we enjoyed developing them.

This year's 'Beautiful Boats' lesson was designed and written by Sarah Pillgram. Sarah brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Kids Art Works. She has taught for many years in schools, and runs popular teachers' training programs. Her ideas are practical and easily adaptable to children of all ages.

'What If' and 'Making it Safe' was designed and written by Geraldine Burke, Artist/Researcher/Teacher who lectures in Art/s education and Studio Arts in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She loves developing arts experiences that foster children’s awareness of their own creative potential. Helping her was Rosemary Bennett, Creative Arts, Dance and Health/Wellbeing Lecturer in the Faculty of Early Childhood and Primary Education at Monash University. She is passionate about the ways in which movement, health and wellbeing can be incorporated within arts based experiences.

People have always been fascinated with water and travel. With Dragon boats in China, Viking boats,, Waka canoes in New Zealand, pirate ships and paddle wheels, from humble dugout canoes to powerful ocean liners, boats are a great source of visual inspiration. Moreover, the mood created on a sparkling clear, blue sky day will be quite different to the mood created on a wild and stormy day.  From relaxing, refreshing and inviting to exhilarating and terrifying, water and boats can inspire children to create interesting textural artworks.
A fun unit using pattern, origami, recycled collage, dye and paint techniques.

Exploring the STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, THINK approach to road safety, the children design, print and collage their own large-scale road/travel systems for an imagined village and individual artworks. Movement activities mirror the challenges of road safety and by using basic digital photography and computer skills, the children can create dynamic posters, featuring themselves as advocates for road safety. Making stickers for use on scooters, bicycles and helmets also helps to weave the STOP LOOK LISTEN THINK awareness into everyday living.

By using a deliberately open ended approach to movement, media and process we create random marks, which are developed into imaginative monsters, creatures and landscapes of the mind.

What if we create String Thing creatures that emerge from just a line, or invent galaxies from which we imagine and develop Constellation Dreams and legends. What if we explore the joys of creating our very own Artist Mini Book, made from just one sheet of paper?

By developing our imaginative eyes we become aware that anything is possible through art!

Designed mainly for Early Childhood, this unit provides opportunities for children to produce stories and art works based on families and friends.  These significant relationships influence how children perceive themselves and their environment. While exploring and experimenting with different media and art processes, this unit supports a connection between home and the school setting.

“Some very good Early Childhood art has emerged when the parent or teacher has confessed to being hopeless at art, but was willing to provide materials, interest and understanding”. 
Frances Derham

The secret to creating great work with young children is to provide good materials and the freedom to experiment.  This unit is not prescriptive.  Rather, it gives you ideas on possible materials and good combinations to try. 

There’s also a section with tips on how to best photograph and file large easel pieces so that they can be used for the calendars, cards and mouse mats.   This is great if you want to use your existing art pieces and enjoy capturing the those magic art moments throughout the year with a digital camera.