"I Can Do Hard Things" Creative Curriculum Guide

This month we are teaching our children that they can do hard things! Our guide is full of art and play invitations that encourage children to problem solve and use their engineering skills like with Tape and Straws, Taller Than Me Towers, Beaded Wire Sculptures, and more. We can offer these to children with as few directions as possible, and we can celebrate child-led innovations as they work with the materials. Our invitations, rituals, and extensions this month are designed to challenge children at all ages and developmental stages. Whether at home or in the classroom, we can all foster a mindset of confidence by stepping back after setting up an art invitation, extending free play a little longer, and loosening our grip a little so that children can try climbing trees, balancing on logs, and running through puddles. Even in more traditional settings that emphasize adult structure, we can open up activities and experiences to involve children in their own learning, and allow them to struggle, iterate, and attempt again. When we give children opportunities to take risks and develop that important growth mindset, they learn to view obstacles as a chance to experiment, innovate, and improve upon ideas.

Our curriculum is inclusive and honors each child’s individuality and way of thinking and working. Consider each guide like a beautiful magazine where creativity meets education. They are more than a collection of art ideas, they are the KEY to a cohesive, child-centered, manageable creative practice for your family at home, or to integrate with your homeschool or classroom curriculum.

Our Whole Child Guide is our original 26-page guide and includes:

• An introduction to the month's theme, or “Big Idea”

• 20 invitations (one for each weekday of the month), 10 art and 10 play, that can be cut into cards and kept in a box as a resource to build upon

• A master supply list that leans heavily on recycled and natural materials and easy-to-find, inexpensive art supplies

• 4 daily weekly rituals for mindfulness, connection, and physical and emotional development to help frame the weeks

• A rich, teacher-approved picture book list with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, earth stewardship, and kindness

• 8 creative snack ideas that complement the theme

• 4 ways to extend the big idea through project-based learning skills such as research, reflection, documentation, and connecting with others

• A list of life skills learned through the month’s creative invitations

• Curricular connections within the guide’s creative offerings in math, literacy, science and social studies

• An artist spotlight featuring living and working artists

• 2 more in-depth projects for weekends or longer term classroom projects

• A master one-page calendar of the month ahead that you can print and post on the art room wall for easy reference