Our Atelier
More than just messy play.
Our Atelier (pronounced are-till-ee-air) is carefully designed to provide an immersive experience for young children. As we see all children as capable and competent learners, this space encourages them to imagine, experiment, and explore their ideas. They can be curious, problem solvers, and express their thinking all while having fun.
What is an Atelier?
An atelier is essentially a space for children to express themselves artistically through multiple mediums, using the language of art. It has multiple tools and materials which children can use to create to their hearts' desire. It helps build critical connections in the brain through the various art processes and creative thinking experiences.
Our Atelier makes use of every day materials that normally are not associated with art - balls, video tapes, even used parking tickets! Children have access to all of these and more and can use what they like each session. Through hands-on discovery, children naturally connect with concepts from literacy, mathematics, science and the world around them - all while expressing their ideas through art and play.
There’s no right or wrong way to create, just the joy of exploring materials, making discoveries and seeing where the process leads.
The Atelier in action
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![Collection of plastic dinosaur toys on a wooden floor, including a T-Rex, a pterodactyl, and stegosaurus.]()
1. It all begins with an idea.
The children were sorting animals and started to discuss dinosaurs. How can they be sorted? What environment did they live in?
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![A homemade model of a rocket decorated with colorful foil bows and tissue paper, mounted on a cardboard base.]()
2. One of the children decided that dinosaurs lived near a volcano so created one using recycled materials.
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![A young girl pointing at an educational diagram of a volcano on a laptop screen at a yellow table.]()
3. The children wanted to know how a volcano worked. We did some research online and using books.
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![Sand with a pink label that says 'volcano' and a small toy shovel.]()
4. After learning how they work, the children jointly constructed one in the sandpit. They used water to represent the lava flowing.
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![A child in a blue superhero-themed t-shirt is decorating a cake with red and green candies. There is a wooden board under the cake, and a small wooden platter with puzzle pieces is nearby. The table has a white tablecloth with pastel clouds pattern.]()
5. They moved the learning inside the Atelier to create their own volcano using clay and a range of materials.
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![A young boy with curly hair wearing a gray shirt and black shorts is playing with pink paint, pouring it from a metal tray onto the floor, surrounded by spilled paint bottles and soccer balls in a makeshift indoor art space with blue plastic and paper walls.]()
6. Then came the messy bit - lava flow using paint. After experimenting with colour mixing, the lava-paint was dramatically poured out, like a real volcano erupting.
The Hundred Languages of Children
“When ideas meet with hands, extraordinary things happen.
Thoughts give shape to the materials and the materials remodels the thoughts and then the things we do grow along with our own growing.”
Salvador Allende Preschool Identity Book
The Hundred Languages is a pedagogical strategy for the construction of concepts and the consolidation of understanding, a way of structuring knowledge and organising learning. The Hundred Languages are described as being expressive, communicative, symbolic, cognitive, ethical, metaphorical, logical, imaginative and relational…read more