Is 18 Months Too Young For Art Class?

I was asking myself this as I buckled my daughter in the car and headed to Kidcreate Studio in Woodbury.

Maelle in her first art class at Kidcreate Studio

My first impressing (being 5 minutes late) was that she was definitely the youngest child there. I would say the average was about 2.5 to 3 years old. That being said, everyone was very welcoming and not bothered by her being a bit younger.

Everyone was welcomed with table coloring while they waited for the art teacher to present the project for the class.

This class was instructed to paint a landscape, glue paper mushrooms and grass to the landscape, and then paint a snap puppet to put on a puppet show! It was very cute and not too challenging for all ages to be involved.

For 18 months, it was of course challenging for her to do on her own. However, as I did the cutting and glue placement for her, she prepared the color pencils and paint brushes. She enjoyed the painting, placing the paper to glue, and also coloring to give her project her own style!

It wasn’t until she wanted to taste the green paint that I realized a little heavier supervision and help on those parts was going to be necessary. Her classmates and parents thought it was silly!

After a little clean up we got back to the project. One of my favorite things about being in the class was the comradery with the other kids and parents, encouraging one another with their art and offering compliments to each other. The environment was very friendly and fun for everyone.

The class was offered to make fun beaded bracelets if they were finished with their work of art. The small pieces with little beads didn't look like a toddler battle I was willing to take on so after we finished our work we left the studio.

Overall, I’d say if you’re bringing a child to art class who is under 2, don’t expect your project to follow along to instructions perfectly. And if you’re patient and open to it, this really does allow young children a space to get creative and try new things.

Note: everything is washable but I suggest wearing clothes you don’t mind getting a little messy! And wet wipes worked great for removing paint from skin super easily.

We are going to sign up for a package of spring classes and see how it goes! I’ll share our feedback after that (if it’s worth sharing!)