Crafternauts Classes
Crafternauts is a unique art and craft club for children combining storytelling with creative activities. We offer fun, educational art and craft activities, inspired by a careful selection of imaginative and informative books. The aim of these classes is to develop children’s wider vocabulary, explore, create, invent and experiment with art and craft materials; finding happiness and magic in the process.
Children develop skills in painting, drawing, sculpture, paper technology, textiles and printing in a fun and mindful environment.
According to research commissioned by BBC Arts, even the briefest time spent on a creative pastime such as painting, pottery or playing the piano has an impact on our wellbeing and emotions.
Join one of our classes today and start a magical journey of creativity and learning.
Crafternauts Classes
Pre-School Classes
Ages 18 months to 4 years
Crafternauts key Benefits:
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Children develop their full body movements, use muscles in their hands and fingers to improve fine and gross motor control and hand to eye co-ordination. Activities such as drawing, painting, cutting, threading, using clay and manipulating small objects are key to success in reading and writing in the early school years.
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Engaging in art and craft develops children’s sensory skills and processing skills. Touching, using, exploring materials and tools helps children make sense of the world around them.
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Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for writing.
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Learn art and craft techniques, including drawing, painting, textiles, printing, paper technology and sculpture with a range of materials.
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Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing
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Develop skills using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.
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Freedom to express themselves and spark their imagination in the magical journey of creating.
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Learn about great artists, architects and designers in history.
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Learn to care for materials and handle tools appropriately and safely.
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Opens a world of books and imagination, developing a love for reading.
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Learn new vocabulary through ‘book talk’ and activate it through fun craft activities.
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Through stories, songs, rhymes and games, notice similarities and differences in the sounds we say and hear and shapes we see, developing pre-phonic skills.
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Children develop visual and auditory discrimination and memory.
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Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs.
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Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems.
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Enjoy interacting with others and develop social skills.
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Reduce stress and experience 'flow'-happiness created by being involved in an activity when nothing else matters.
'Learning to read well starts early, and good early language skills are the vital stepping stone. If children do not learn to speak and listen from an early age, along with developing their understanding of the meaning of words and stories, they will struggle to learn to read well when they get to primary school.' -Ready to Read, England, Read On, Get On Report June 2015
Key Stage 1 After School Classes
Aged 4 to 7 (Reception, Year 1, Year 2)
Crafternauts key Benefits:
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Children develop their body movements, use muscles in their hands and fingers to improve fine and gross motor control and hand to eye co-ordination. Activities such as drawing, painting, cutting, threading, using clay and manipulating small objects are key to success in reading and writing in the early school years.
-
Learn art and craft techniques, including drawing, painting, textiles, printing, paper technology and sculpture with a range of materials.
-
Develop skills using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.
-
Freedom to express themselves and spark their imagination in the magical journey of creating.
-
Learn about great artists, architects and designers in history.
-
Art and Craft sessions help children to learn to care for materials and handle tools appropriately and safely.
-
Children learn new vocabulary through ‘book talk’ and activate it through fun craft activities.
-
Opens a world of books and imagination, developing a love for reading.
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Develop their growing knowledge of the meaning of words.
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Reduce stress and experience 'flow'-happiness created by being involved in an activity when nothing else matters.
'Here’s how many words kids would have heard by the time they were 5 years old: Never read to, 4,662 words; 1-2 times per week, 63,570 words; 3-5 times per week, 169,520 words; daily, 296,660 words; and five books a day, 1,483,300 words.' – The Reading Framework – Teaching The Foundations of Literacy- January 2022 DFE
Key Stage 2 After School Classes
Aged 7 to 11 years (Year 3, 4, 5, 6)
Crafternauts key Benefits:
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Improve their mastery of art and craft techniques, including drawing, painting, textiles, printing, paper technology and sculpture with a range of materials
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Develop further skills using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space
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Review ideas and think critically about their art and craft work.
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Learn about great artists, architects and designers in history.
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Freedom to express themselves and spark their imagination in the magical journey of creating.
-
Art and Craft sessions help children to learn to care for materials and handle tools safely, appropriately and with increased control.
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Opens a world of books and imagination, developing a love for reading.
-
Children learn new vocabulary through ‘book talk’ and activate it through fun craft activities and games.
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Develop their growing word knowledge through Morphology and Etymology (root words, prefixes and suffixes)
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Develop their growing knowledge of the meanings of words.
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Reduce stress and experience 'flow'-happiness created by being involved in an activity when nothing else matters.
'The ability to visualise is the key to comprehension. We need to picture what we are reading in order to understand it. The ability to visualise is also the key to writing. To adopt the habits of mind of an artist is the strengthen those very skills required to become a strong reader. '- Talking Points, Arts in Practice: Arts-Based Literacy in Whole Languages, 2008