PLAYDATES with Materials

Explore the boundless potential of three essential artistic mediums: collage, painting, and sculpture + maker space materials. In this on-demand series, we encourage you to play along with us as we explore what the materials can do and become. These art playdates can serve as an introduction to the practices and insights of our Materials Matter course framework, or complement and deepen your existing understanding. Let us help you reimagine what's possible when children are given the time, space, and tools to create.

Enroll in PLAYDATES with Materials

Note: This is an individual registration. Email us for schools & groups.

$75.00
One time
$25.00
For 3 months

Each workshop is designed to spark inspiration, build a playful and open mindset around using these materials with children, and equip you with fresh strategies for integrating our approach into your classroom or learning environment.

PLAYDATES with Materials

1. PLAY with Materials: COLLAGE

Collage is a wonderfully playful and accessible medium that invites exploration, iteration, and self-expression. The collage process supports children in developing their own artistic language and sense of choice-making, whether in early learning environments, elementary classrooms, studios, or at home. In this interactive workshop, we will look at the possibilities of collage as an open-ended material spanning the ages and stages of infancy through upper elementary, and consider how layering, cutting, and assembling materials can foster deeper thinking and imaginative play. Playing with materials builds creative confidence and helps us see everyday materials in new ways. There will be an opportunity to collage together during this workshop, children are welcome to join along with you!

2. PLAY with Materials: PAINT

How might we reimagine painting and make the process available and accessible in any setting? This workshop will explore painting as a dynamic and sensory-rich experience that invites children of all ages and stages to investigate color, movement, and materiality. Just as in our collage workshop, there will be an opportunity to play together with paint and experience a childlike delight of discovery. The children in your world are always invited to join! You will leave with an awareness and understanding of a variety of painting experiences and gain fresh ideas for incorporating painting into your teaching practice in ways that nurture creative confidence and play.

3. PLAY with Materials: Maker Space + Sculpture

How can we transform everyday materials into expressive, three-dimensional works of art? Come along with us as we explore the potential of wire, clay, recyclables, and loose parts as tools for creative thinking and engineering. Participants will engage in hands-on exploration using recyclable materials while considering how open-ended materials encourage problem-solving, persistence, and collaboration. Children can discover along with you! Whether you're designing a maker space, responding to an interest in your classroom, or looking for innovative ways to support hands-on learning using what you have, this workshop will inspire new possibilities for your work with children.

  • Thank you for this reaffirmation on the importance of play-based learning and open-ended art. A fire in my belly, and lots of lovely inspo for setting it up and seeing what happens!

    Emma, Set it Up and See What Happens participant

  • I am inspired and energized as a museum educator. I've always struggled to come up with ideas for how to use abundant, available materials. Your "how not what" approach feels like a revelation to me.

    Katy, Set it Up and See What Happens participant

  • Just when I think I’ve learned all that I can from TCP, bam! You give me so much more to refresh, inspire, and energize my creative process. It’s no coincidence that I have to pull my kids out of the art room at bedtime in the days and weeks following a workshop :) Item

    Katy, “Back to Basics” workshop participant

  • Shannon and Bar - you both speak with such confidence and beautifully illustrated this program. My biggest takeaway is the advocacy you have for this movement and the use of empowering language when discussing this as a right for children

    Suzanne, Set it Up and See What Happens participant

  • I love how your workshops are organized and the simple, effective way you share ideas. Our preschool already does a lot with open-ended art experiences, loose parts, and recyclables, and yet I walked away with new ideas and inspiration. Thank you!

    Kevan, “Back to Basics” workshop participant

  • I am taking away the idea that the image of the child that we hold affects the way we approach learning. When we believe that the children are capable, creative, and valued, then we can "set it up and see what happens."

    Chryssa, Set it Up and See What Happens participant

  • My takeaway is to start with a couple of simple choices. Sit with the discomfort of wanting to direct students.

    Kari, Set it Up and See What Happens participant

  • Love all your visual examples! You have reaffirmed my commitment to process art! Loved getting some new ideas -fence weaving, varying sizes of paper for more choice, egg cartons for glue.

    Lainey, Set it Up and See What Happens participant

  • I think its so brave to challenge stereotypes and the need to conform. You allow us to value and encourage independent learning. Through your workshop I learned - Process not product. The possibility of merging structured learning with free learning. Respecting the process of learning. Not expecting a finished stereotypical response.

    Janet, Set it Up and See What Happens participant

  • “Learn to see learning” stuck with me. I tend to get stuck in a rut of just “getting in and getting out” when I go into schools to teach. What a great reminder to slow down and see how the students are learning, so that I can celebrate OUR hard work!

    K.Z., “Digging Deeper” workshop participant

  • I love the resourcefulness of the workshop. Sometimes we feel we don't have the budget but I think you have offered so many free solutions! Thank you.

    Heather, “Back to Basics” workshop participant

  • Thank you for all the amazing ideas for how to invite children to get creative, how to set up space, how to pare down, how to inspire other teachers, etc. Everything was just what I was looking for!

    Kim, “Designing for Discovery” workshop participant

  • So many wonderful visuals, and how you organize the information conveys your message so well. As a preschool director, I now have ideas for how to better communicate "less is more" to our amazing teachers!

    Kevan, “Designing for Discovery” workshop participant

  • So many a-ha moments you brought me to! You answered my questions and then some for organizing, dealing with art accumulation, and starting from scratch with creating or redesigning a space.

    Katy, “Designing for Discovery” workshop participant

 FAQs

  • All workshops will be recorded and available for those who have registered for the series in a password-protected portal where you can also find links to supplies, materials, and resources covered in our workshops.

  • Once you register for the series, you will receive an invitation to create an account or log into your TCP account. In your portal, you can access the recordings within 48 hours of the live event. You will have lifetime access to your portal.

  • We ask that you purchase one registration per educator, please. If you plan to sign up more than 5 educators, please email us for a bulk discount code. We’ve made this series and all of our products incredibly inexpensive and offer discounts whenever possible. We appreciate your support in our work!

  • Yes, please email us with documentation and we will provide a discount code.

  • Yes, printable certificates will be available on your portal after completing reflection questions.

  • Our Materials Matter course covers 12 materials and includes 12 playbooks that are 25 pages each, and 12nin-depth videos. It also encourages teachers and those working with children to become comfortable with each of the materials and find ways to organize and offer them to meet the needs of the learning space. The PLAYDATES with Materials series is an inspirational beginning to our approach, leaving room to take the Materials Matter course in the future.

  • This series will be in a webinar format without cameras on for attendees. We feel that this is a more relaxed way to spend the hour for attendees. There will be a chat feature open during each workshop so that we can answer questions in real-time, and we will save time at the end to highlight and discuss recurring themes from the chat.