Grades K–2 · Ages 5–7
Kids Art Jr
A first real art class. Forty-five minutes of making, with actual materials and no wrong answers — short enough to hold a five-year-old's attention and real enough that it isn't a craft table.
Enroll now See all four classes
A proud artist from our summer class.
Fall launch special — drop in any Monday for $20.
No commitment · Launch drop-in rate for Fall 2026 · Oct 5 – Dec 14 · no class Thanksgiving week
When
Mondays, 10:00–10:45 AM
Length
45 minutes
Fall launch drop-in
$20
Full 10 weeks
$250
Fall launch drop-in is $20 per class (standard rate $25) — no commitment, any Monday. First class is $10, so you can try it before committing. $20 off for each additional sibling. Classes are held at my home studio in Holladay — I send the address when you enroll.
Week by week
The ten Mondays.
Ten Mondays, October 5 through December 14. Every week alternates between a skill drill and a trip through art history — and every week ends with something finished that goes home the same day. Each Monday stands on its own, so you can join partway through the term without your child feeling behind.
Week 1 · Oct 5
Skill Drill
Fun with Fine Lines
Trading markers for real artist brushes. We practice pushing down to make thick lines and lifting up to make super-thin strokes with black paint.
Week 2 · Oct 12
History Journey
Chalk Cave Animals
Traveling to the very first artists. Kids crumple paper to feel like stone walls, then use earthy chalk pastels to draw sweeping bison outlines.
Week 3 · Oct 19
Skill Drill
Scissor Skills
A workout for finger muscles. Kids practice cutting geometric shapes from thick paper, then sort them cleanly into storage envelopes.
Week 4 · Oct 26
History Journey
4-Shape Mosaic Cat
Looking at ancient tomb art. Using the shapes they cut last week, children layer pieces to build a geometric Egyptian cat collage.
Week 5 · Nov 2
Skill Drill
Color Chemistry Lab
Color magic. Children cover a background sheet in dark paint, then dab primary colors right on top to watch secondary colors mix live.
Week 6 · Nov 9
History Journey
The Winged Bull
Children use the warm colors they mixed — red, orange, yellow — to make a winged Mesopotamian sculpture pop off the background.
Week 7 · Nov 16
Skill Drill
Pattern-Printing
Your child turns everyday objects like sponges and bubble wrap into stamps, discovering how different textures leave patterns on paper.
Week 8 · Nov 30
History Journey
Bronze Vessels
Kids glue their texture prints into a dragon template, wrap the piece in foil, and rub charcoal over it to make a shimmering bronze plate.
Week 9 · Dec 7
Skill Drill
Bedroom Blueprint
A lesson in mapping and spatial planning. Children cut out paper furniture shapes and arrange them from a top-down view to map a room.
Week 10 · Dec 14
History Journey
Gold Mosaic Rooms
Glittering Byzantine mosaics. Children snip shiny gold foil paper into tiny tiles, creating a frame around the bedroom maps they drew.
Utah Core Standards covered this semester · Visual Arts, Grades K–2
- K.V.CR.2Build skills in various media and approaches to art-making; use art materials, tools, and equipment in a safe way; and create art that communicates a story about a natural or constructed environment.
- K.V.CR.3Share and talk about the artwork and the process of making art while creating.
- 1.V.CO.2Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding that people from different times and places have made art for a variety of reasons.
- 2.V.CR.1Brainstorm multiple approaches to an art or design problem, and make art or design with various materials and tools to explore personal interests, questions, and curiosity.
- 2.V.R.2Identify the mood suggested by a work of art and describe relevant subject matter and characteristics of form.
- 2.V.R.3Use learned art vocabulary to express preferences about artwork.
Standard text is quoted from the Utah State Board of Education Fine Arts Core Standards. Emily Engh Art Studio is an independent studio, not a public school — these are the standards the semester is built to cover.
Fall 2026 workshop
October 5 to December 14.
Ten Mondays. The fall workshop is about learning to see like an artist and building technique that holds up — and meeting a working artist most people have never heard of, every single week.
Kids finish the year knowing thirty-odd artists beyond the usual ten. That's deliberate. Every week is anchored to a real artist whose work connects to what we're making that day.
What we cover
The ground this class covers.
Marks that wander, wiggle, loop and scribble — and what happens when you use them on purpose.
Building a whole animal out of four simple shapes.
Mixing secondaries from primaries and watching it happen in front of you.
Rubbings, pressed clay, and everything in the studio that has a surface worth feeling.
Near and far, and how to put both on one flat piece of paper.
How a class runs
What a Monday looks like.
- Each element gets two weeks — one to learn it, one to use it. No rushing.
- One new art word a week. Just one.
- Short demo, about five minutes, then hands on materials.
- Simplified tools and fewer choices, so the decision isn't the hard part.
- Work goes home the same day. Always.
Kids Art Jr and Kids Art follow the same weekly concept. If you have one child in each, they'll both be on Line week at the same time — just at different depth.
I tell students what we're learning at the start of class, then reveal the steps one at a time as we go. It keeps everyone moving together and leaves room for the lesson to bend around the group in front of me.
Coming back next year
No repeats.
The curriculum runs on a three-year rotation, and every tier is a three-grade band. A student can stay in Kids Art Jr for all three years and never repeat a project. When they age up into the next class, the ideas come back — but at a depth they couldn't have handled before.
From the classroom
Real work, real mess, real pride.
Photos from our summer classes in the park.
Enroll
Come try one class first.
Drop in any Monday this fall for $20 — or try the first class for $10. Tell me your child's grade and I'll send the studio address, the supply notes, and confirm your spot.
Enroll now Back to all classes