Artfarm afternoons @ An Feirm beag

Artfarm afternoons are starting again, these were hugely popular and ran during term time up to the birth of my last baby and now he’s old enough, we’re up and running again. These afternoons are suitable for children aged 3 to 10 years and they are offered from 3.30pm to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday and on Saturday mornings from 10am to midday. Children can attend all sessions or come once a week, it is not ‘taught’ so they do not miss out on anything, projects can be picked up and left off as suits the child.

I firmly believe that as Picasso said ‘all children are artists, the challenge is remaining an artist when we grow up’. As an adult that has had the honour of working with these artists for the past 12 years, I know I can teach them nothing, but I can facilitate them. I can offer my materials, my home, my garden and the space and time to experiment and be creative.

The evening is made up of a combination of arts and crafts and outdoor play. The experience in nature is vital after a day in school, whether it was the relatively short one in pre-school, or the longer day in national school. The children will have a small garden plot which they will develop themselves, and enjoy the experience of seeing something they plant grow, and hopefully, they will eventually enjoy the fruits of that!

So, I will not ‘teach’ your child anything that is not already within them and they will not traipse home with their arms laden with pictures identical to their friends ones(I promise!), but they will have fun, they will make bags and boxes and other objects, they will knit and paint and sculpt as this kind of work with their hands is so good for them. Most importantly, they will make a mess. The experience of making art, the interaction with colour and three-dimensional form is calming and theraputic for all children and helps them to develop creative thinking that will impact on all aspects of their lives.