An Art Class Adventure

       When it comes to finding activities to occupy this tough time of quarantine and social distancing, it has been challenging. Parents are scrambling around finding activities for their children to do, while they, themselves, are also restless from the daily repetitive tasks that come with running a household.

       However, out of every cloud, there is a silver lining. In the past several weeks, parents, children, and local teachers have gathered together, virtually, to create online classes that range from cooking to computer coding. I was fortunate enough to interview some of the art teachers and get a perspective on their works and how these classes have changed the mood of the social distancing.

       ​Any parent will tell you: children are naturally creative beings and keeping them inside with nothing to do can be very hard on them. Here at the Review, we’ve seen how the act of artistic creation helps kids break free of the monotony of self-quarantine; and with these virtual art classes, many parents and teachers have noticed a similar shift in children’s attitudes. 

​      These art classes not only allow the children to socialize, but also express their creativity through clay making, painting, drawing, and much more. One teacher, Ms. Zhang, taught a class on creating and illustrating personalized name tags. She said that by allowing the children to fill their tag with anything they identified themselves with, the students were able to express who they truly were. Also, because each child could show others what they were working on in real time, there were lots of collaborations happening.

"Many of them are no longer in a state of restless boredom, but rather excited everyday to see what new classes there are."

        ​Many of them are no longer in a state of restless boredom, but rather excited everyday to see what new classes there are. The classes not only allow communication between teacher and student, but also allows the children to talk to each other. In class, EmP children are able to talk and interact with other children they already know or make new friends.

       Next time, if you are feel yourself coming down with a dose of the old cabin fever, maybe look up some of these classes and sign up for a couple. There are many different age groups and interests and there will definitely be one, if not many, that will help you through this difficult time.

Cindy Cao is the contributing art editor at the Review. She is currently a highschool senior at Juanita High School and she has been involved with a lot of community-based art events and competition. Next year, she will be attending Parsons School of Design in New York.