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Art Time for Kids
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(540) 842-6250


  • Home
  • Art Schedules
  • Music Schedules
  • Special Events
  • About Us
  • REGISTER ART
  • REGISTER MUSIC

Some of Our Favorite Lessons for the Youngest Artists:

Can you drive a Truck through Paint?

A favorite lesson for all ages, this painting is created with toy cars and trucks. Piet Mondrian would be proud as we learn about primary colors, geometric design, and noisy traffic.

Driving Cars through New York City

Mondrian's 1943 Painting "Broadway Boogie Woogie" is an abstraction of the lights and sounds of New York City streets.  

David Hockney in Diapers

When you need the swimming pool painted under your bright yellow diving board, sometimes just a diaper and a large paint brush is all you need.

The Things we Do...

Always on the Move

Learn about Art History

Learn about Art History

Good news: kids don't have to sit still.  Around super bowl season, we learned about Leroy Nieman.  The children threw footballs to get in the spirit!

Learn about Art History

Learn about Art History

Learn about Art History

To make each art project more meaningful,  we learn about artists past and present.  Let's take our toy airplanes and fly over the map...buckle up.

Skill-building Games

Learn about Art History

Skill-building Games

An obstacle course? How is this art?  Well, if you were trying to find the elusive ruins of Machu Pichu you would understand.

Never the Same Thing

Make your mess with us!

Skill-building Games

Have you ever dyed cloth by mashing spinach?  This two-year old crushed it.  

Tactile Experiences

Make your mess with us!

Make your mess with us!

A photography lesson? Famous iconic photographs led the lesson for laying our photo paper in the sun, then dunking it in water.  See the patterns?

Make your mess with us!

Make your mess with us!

Make your mess with us!

You can't have Art Time for Kids without a Jackson Pollock lesson.  Is it messy?  Well, that's why we are here!

Archeological Dig

Archeological Dig

Archeological Dig

When learning about Ancient Greek Pottery, children must dig to uncover the art from the past.

Self-Portraits

Archeological Dig

Archeological Dig

There is nothing better than an artist's self portrait.  The younger the artist, the more precious the artwork.

Gray Scale

Archeological Dig

Masks with Grandma

When learning about Claude Monet's Steam Engines, the children learn that there are many, many grays.  Can you line them up in order?

Masks with Grandma

Flashlights & Shadows

Masks with Grandma

A lot of Grandparents join the fun at Art Time for Kids.  Who is more proud of this creative mask?

Flashlights & Shadows

Flashlights & Shadows

Flashlights & Shadows

Make a person out of foil.  Shine a flashlight.  Observe how the shadow changes.  Now Paint!

Show some motion!

Flashlights & Shadows

Flashlights & Shadows

Leroy Neiman used the best expressive lines in his sports-themed paintings.  Make our own body  jump, dance, run, and spin using just the movement of the oil pastels.

Healthy Food-Face

Skyscapers and Architects

Skyscapers and Architects

Playing with your food is okay!  The more you touch, feel, and become familiar with jicama, spinach, and peppers, the more likely they will be a part of your diet, right?

Skyscapers and Architects

Skyscapers and Architects

Skyscapers and Architects

How are architects like artists?  How did skyscrapers change cities and architecture?  How great is this city that we can crawl through?

Pouring and Mixing Colors

Skyscapers and Architects

Pouring and Mixing Colors

Be a mad scientist: blue, yellow, and red colored water have endless possibilities!

Smooshing rocks into clay

Smooshing rocks into clay

Pouring and Mixing Colors

What is it about poking shiny rocks and gems into clay?  Toddlers and preschoolers just can't get enough of this project.

Pretty Porcupine

Smooshing rocks into clay

Pretty Porcupine

A porcupine made meticulously from toothpicks dipped in many colors of paint.  Mexican folk art inspired this artwork, and kids wanted to work long past their grown-ups!

The Spiral Getty

Smooshing rocks into clay

Pretty Porcupine

Ever heard of "Earthworks?"  We didn't use bulldozers and major bodies of water like Robert Smithson, but we built a lot of spirals!

Monet's Trains

Stringing Large "Beads"

Zen Garden with Rake

Trains just lure in the preschoolers... and Monet loved their dramatic puffs of steam, too.  The children in Fredericksburg travel to the train stations and countryside of France.


Zen Garden with Rake

Stringing Large "Beads"

Zen Garden with Rake

Does your child need more meditation and relaxation?  Yes, that IS a miniature rake.  And yes, that two year old is arranging the rocks in a balanced and peaceful Japanese rock garden.

Stringing Large "Beads"

Stringing Large "Beads"

Stringing Large "Beads"

Robert Indiana and his "LOVE" sculptures shows us how letters can make art. Using paper letters and toilet paper tubes, the children strung the letters to spell their names or a word of their choice.  

Summer Pop-up Playdates

Summer Pop-up Playdates

Stringing Large "Beads"

The summer Pop-up Playdates were so much fun!  We met at 5 different parks throughout the season for informal projects and socializing.

Painting a Color Wheel

Summer Pop-up Playdates

Painting a Color Wheel

Using only fingers, create a color wheel by mixing neighbor colors.  This is finger painting with a purpose!

Chalk Cityscape

Summer Pop-up Playdates

Painting a Color Wheel

Romare Bearden, a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, loved cityscapes.  We used black paper, chalk, and little hands to rub and draw.

Elementary Students Create Mural: "Fredericksburg: Past, Present, Future, Strong!" 2020.

A 5 panel mural was created in our studio through the months of November and December, 2020.

A 5 panel mural was created in our studio during the last two months of 2020.   The Kids Club, consisting of two groups of children, ranging in age from 5 to 10 worked to plan, sketch, and paint our colorful mural!

Our mural is currently installed on the 800 block of Caroline Street, between Abner B's ice cream an

Our mural is currently installed on the 800 block of Caroline Street, between Abner B's ice cream and Bangkok Cafe.

These two sisters work on the "Present" panel of the mural.  The iconic steeple of St. George's is j

These two sisters work on the "Present" panel of the mural.  The iconic steeple of St. George's is juxtaposed with modern people taking a carriage tour.

Meet Your Instructors:

Claire Ellinger

Claire Ellinger

Claire Ellinger

Hello!  I am the owner of Art Time for Kids, and also a teacher.  I graduated from UMW with a studio arts degree, as well as a Masters of Education.  I worked at an alternative ed school here in Fredericksburg and also taught Middle School Art at A.G. Wright in Stafford County.

I love teaching Art, which is why I grew this business out of my own home when my two boys were babies!  Bringing Art History to toddlers was my first focus and challenge for Art Time for Kids, and I am proud of how much we have grown.

I occasionally find time to create my own artwork when I am not helping young students create Art.  I enjoy painting and sewing.  I satisfy my creative urge by watching young children enjoy art. Researching and adapting Art History for the youngest students is very satisfying for me!

Cora Freeman

Claire Ellinger

Claire Ellinger

My name is Cora Freeman I am a recent graduate of Mary Washington where I studied studio arts with a concentration in ceramics. I currently work in my studio in downtown Fredericksburg where I create functional handmade ceramics. I love combining my passions of working with children and art work. I find so much joy in teaching children about the outlet of art and watching their knowledge of art grow! 

Tanya Green

Claire Ellinger

Tanya Green

My name is Tanya Green. I am a local artist and former Stafford County Public Schools art teacher. I have a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Design with a concentration in Visual Communication as well as a Masters degree in Education. Currently, I’m working as a painter and muralist which sometimes take a back seat to the many hats I wear as a mother and wife.

For 13 years I taught art to elementary through middle school aged children. I’m excited to join the Art Time 4 Kids team and get back into the classroom, so to speak. I love seeing the individual growth of artists as they try new techniques and explore different media. I’m passionate about helping kids see the world around them in new ways and that they’re all capable of creating art in their own way. It’s pretty rewarding to see their smiles to a job well done.

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