EcoArts Kids: Build Foundational Art SkillsCreate something wild! Are you a kindergarten or Grade 1 student who loves drawing, building, exploring nature, or making things with your hands? In EcoArts, you’ll practice real art skills like sketching, painting, sculpting, and working with all kinds of creative materials while exploring ideas inspired by the natural world. You’ll experiment, solve creative challenges, and discover new ways to bring your ideas to life. Whether you already think of yourself as an artist or you’re just excited to try something new, this program is for you! Join Ashley Mazanec, founding EcoArts Kids educator and UCSD master’s graduate with more than 15 years of experience teaching art and environmental education to children. Ashley will guide young artists through hands-on exploration of art materials and techniques, building foundational skills and confidence as they bring their own creative ideas to life. Weekly creative sessions: Hands-on EcoArts classes designed especially for kindergarten and Grade 1. Get artist-level attention: Receive encouragement and one-on-one guidance from an experienced teaching artist who helps each child’s unique ideas grow. Real art skills: Learn techniques, tools, and creative processes that give young artists more ways to bring their imaginations to life. Create beyond the ordinary: Experiment with unexpected materials, natural elements, and inventive art-making techniques you won’t find in a typical craft project. Think like an artist: Make choices, solve creative problems, take risks, and discover what happens when there isn’t just one “right” answer. Develop your own style: Build confidence expressing your ideas and discovering what makes your artwork uniquely yours. A growing collection: Bring home original artwork that reflects new skills, techniques, and ideas developed throughout the program. No class on Sept. 21 and Nov. 9

Shape something out of clay Are you a Lower School student who loves creating with your hands? Using clay as a medium, you’ll learn to shape functional and sculptural pieces with coils, slab construction, and pinching methods. Students create multiple pieces and learn how to glaze bisque ware to produce finished artwork. Projects change regularly, so students can return session after session to keep developing their skills. No prior experience is needed — just your hands, curiosity, and a willingness to play. LED BY Alexis Grinbold and Sani vanderSpek, La Jolla Country Day Ceramics Educators. Program highlights One-on-one guidance in a group setting: individual attention on hand-building while working alongside classmates. Builds fine motor skills: strengthens hands and develops hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. Develops problem-solving: students experiment with different shapes, sizes, and forms of clay. Focus and concentration: molding and shaping clay to a desired form builds a child’s ability to stay with a task. A social craft: opportunities to share ideas, collaborate, and learn from one another. A tool for self-expression: clay lets children communicate thoughts and ideas nonverbally. Students leave with: multiple finished, glazed artworks to take home.