It’s A Work Of Art
Whether your kids are mini Monet’s in the making or they just love to get messy and creative, Dubai has some really cool places for unleashing all their artistic potential! From pottery to mosaics, art classes to free-style paint sessions and loads more, we’ve rounded up 10 of our fave spaces for little artists to go wild in – prepare yourselves (and your walls) for lots of fabulous creations, mamas!
Got a budding artist at home? Give them a helping hand by enlisting them in the Art Dubai sessions for children! An annual event in our desert city, Art Dubai is set to return this month (15th -18th March) and there’s LOADS for kids (from the age of 5 up) to get stuck into. The Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program 2017 includes workshops, publications and discovery tours created especially for the fair by international and UAE-based artists and is designed to provide access to skills and ideas with the long-term aim of encouraging young people to get involved and excel in the arts.
The program will feature Expanding Treasures, a project by this year’s lead artist, Amsterdam-based Suzan Drummen, who’ll be joined by a group of UAE-based apprentice artists and designers looking to specialize in children’s art education. The workshops will see families and children (aged 5-12) work together to create a large-scale temporary installation on-site at the fair, inspired by patterns, colors and materials. During the sessions, children will be guided by Drummen and the apprentice artists in order to help them find the materials and themes they would like to explore. The sessions will allow the participants the opportunity to explore their creative potential.For the first time, this year’s edition of the Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program will also feature daily drop-in workshops. These additional sessions will allow more people to experience the program and join without requiring prior sign-up. One drop-in workshop will take place each public day for the duration of 2 hours.
Sounds fab right!? We’re signing our people up pronto.
To sign up or for more info visit www.artdubai.ae
Is there anything cuter than drinking your tea from a mug that’s been hand-painted by your kiddos!? Well – actually watching them create it is pretty high up there too – and Cafe Ceramique in Town Centre Mall, Jumeirah, is just the place for them to do it. Kids (and mamas!) can choose from a huge range of ready-to-paint ceramics including mugs, tiles, animals and loads more – and there are friendly staff on hand to provide paint and inspo or help with painting handprints on crockery (perfect for grandparent pressies!).
And while they paint, mama can enjoy a bite to eat or a coffee – yay! Whether you’re dropping in, booking a birthday party or signing the kids up to an annual membership (AED 300 and includes discounts on events, parties, camps plus lots more), this is the ideal place for some arty fun and a great way to spend some time with the littles.
Art isn’t restricted to painting, mamas, and Cloud 7 is an awesome new space that allows children to use their imagination and create everything from soap to candles inside a little studio inside the Level Kids department store. There’s also ceramic painting and cake decorating (not real cakes sadly…but still) plus a digital zone where you can mould your very own superhero before scanning him/her into a computer game and a foam building blocks area for building stuff too!
Craft Land is Dubai’s answer for itchy fingers and is perfect for kids who love to make stuff! From embroidery to sewing, kitting to crochet plus a whole load of lovely fabric things – there are classes to take, birthday party options and lots of patterns to try at home (we love the cute little felt monsters). Just pop in for materials or to have a chat about what your little people might love to do – and prepare to get crafty!
Ask any mama where the best place to buy ALL your arts & crafts supplies is and Creative Minds is guaranteed to come up. A one-stop-shop for everything from educational supplies to party items and literally everything you might need for your kids to get seriously arty at home – be warned you can spend hours (and quite a few dirhams) in here! So it’s not a space in which to unleash your mini artists but you can definitely get them set up at home with absolutely all the gear – from glitter glues to coloured card, paints, pencils – you name it – they got it! Oh and if you find yourself trying to make a costume/school project the night before it’s due then this is your place (and we’re talking from experience…) .
An absolute institution in our desert city, The Dubai International Art Center is (almost) as old as us – and that’s saying something (ahem!). A space dedicated to all things art, there are courses, exhibitions and a really cute cafe that serves up a mean Mississippi Mud Pie (just sayin…). With 8 teaching and creativity rooms plus special areas for painting, pottery, photography, presentations and music – there are plenty of opportunities for nurturing every artistic talent! And the kids courses are fab -from ‘drawing and painting’ to ‘watercolour’ and ‘therapeutic art’ – little ones aged 5 and up have lots to choose from.
Did you know that there’s more to DUCTAC than the theatre? This awesome community centre also offers lots of arts & crafts classes for kids (and adults too) including; art and craft fun for kids (aged 3-5 and 6-10), the joy of mosaics, quilling, crochet and doll making – how awesome!? There’s even a parent and child mosaic course that teaches absolute beginners how to create gorgeous pieces while bonding over turtles, giraffes, dinosaurs and more!
For bookings and information visit www.ductac.org
A spacious, bright and simply gorgeous communal art space in Al Serkal Avenue, Al Quoz, where you and your little ones can let your inner artists out -all props provided! The great thing about thejamjar space is exactly that – the space. With a huge warehouse size area for plenty of painting fun, kids are encouraged to get messy and creative! There are huge windows that allow loads of natural light in, canvases of all sizes to paint on, easels, paints and a coffee bar and music to provide that essential ambience (and caffeine…). It works in kind of ‘pick n mix’ style – the kids can choose any size canvas (they’re all priced differently) and then get stuck into decorating it however they like. These painting sessions are perfect for all ages, last 2 hours and include everything they’ll need to create something super cool – and there are lovely staff on hand to help with any questions (or spillages…).
Read more: How to Throw a Party at thejamjar
At KidzArt they believe that art can be created by ANYONE (yes, even those kiddie squiggles qualify!) – this organisation provides littles of all ages with inspiring drawing lessons and arty projects to help nurture creativity. Their classes are designed for ALL kids from age 2 upwards, whether they’re natural born Picassos or they just love doodling. And the part we love most? This is a totally inclusive programme that supports all kids to develop confidence and skills that can carry over into other areas of study. From art classes to camps and workshops, they do it all over at their Al Barsha, JBR and Festival City locations, providing the environment for creativity to flourish. Awesome.
Calling all petit-potters! We’re pretty sure that any kiddo out there would want to get their hands on some clay and have a go at a potters wheel and we know just the place to do it! Yadawei Ceramics Studio in Al Quoz is all about ceramic arts and pottery and their kids classes will allow your aspiring artists to transform clay into functional or decorative objects (or frankly something totally abstract – anything goes!). They’ll learn how to slab, coil and pinch plus how to decorate their work and apply non-toxic glazes – so expect your home to be filled with their creations, mamas! And we quite fancy a go too (yes, it’s every mamas dream after that scene in Ghost..right!?).
