Sensory Art is a series of five sensory-based classes developed by Davis, CA art instructor and parent of an Autism Spectrum child, Antoinette O’Neill. Classes are held once a week for an hour (to allow for transition time and a mid-class break if needed). Each class focuses on one of the five senses -- sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.
These classes were developed with the special needs child in mind. It’s perfect for children with Sensory Processing Dysfunction (such as SID-Sensory Integration Disorder), Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and other neurologically based conditions. This means that each “lesson” is not only intended to “stretch” the child and provide a stimulating experience in the targeted sense, but each child’s special needs are also taken into consideration and planned for. For example, a child with extreme tactile defensiveness may still be able to participate with the use of gloves (rubber or cloth), popsicle sticks instead of hand-to-object contact or with the assistance of a therapy tool (such as bubble wrap or their paper taped to the wall rather than sitting in a chair).
It is the process of making art, self expression and exploration in a safe, appropriate, creative environment that is the focus of this class, NOT the end product. Tools and supplies are provided and examples of the finished “piece of the day” will be available, but children are encouraged to work at their own pace and in their own way.
You know your child better than anyone, therefore it is required that a parent, guardian, family member or aide accompany each child to the class in order to better assist that child and provide the best possible experience.
Monday
FAQ:
Q:CAN YOU GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE PROJECTS ARE?
A:For “smell” we will be working with orange essence scented clay and drawing with wax crayons before doing a coconut scented water color wash over the crayon drawing.
Q:WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SUPPLIES YOU USE?
A:I always use only the safest of non-toxic art supplies. If you can’t eat it, you won’t see it in my class. We will use food coloring, fruits, non-toxic pens, large pieces of paper, pudding, crushed cereal and other conventional and un-conventional items to make our creations. Many of the paints and clay I make personally out of 100% safe and eatable ingredients.
Q:WILL MY CHILD GET “MESSY?”
A:YES! Please wear clothes you don’t mind getting messy. A messy artist is a happy, engaged artist. Most special needs children have co-morbid anxiety issues and we really don’t want to add to that by stressing a need to stay “clean.” I will provide some old t-shirts if your child is more comfortable wearing them over their clothes.
Q:CAN THEIR BROTHER/SISTER COME TO?
A:Absolutely, as long as they are signed up for the class. Even if they have no special needs, they are welcome to enroll as well (as long as they don’t take your attention away from the other student and can respect the needs of the other students.)
Q:CAN WE TAKE THIS CLASS MORE THAN ONCE?
A:Absolutely!
Q:ARE YOU A LICENSED ART THERAPIST?
A:No, this is the other reason that I prefer a parent or other adult to accompany the child to the class. Having my own child on the Autism Spectrum and teaching art to children and adults of all ages for the last six years doesn’t make me an expert on YOUR child. I genuinely enjoy exposing people of all ages and abilities to the joys of making their own art, but this is not intended to replace any other therapeutic interventions or “cure” anyone. Only to give them an enriching experience most children are allowed to have regularly and our children may not be able to participate in.
Q:WHAT ARE THE TARGETED AGES FOR THIS CLASS?
A:I prefer to go by developmental age rather than chronological, but 5 years old is a baseline. I do have a break in the middle of the class and there's plenty of opportunity for self-pacing. I have had children in the class in the past who have had issues remaining seated in a more structured environment, have success in the art class. We also don't use scissors, so fine motor development is a non-issue. School age is just a guideline.
Q:I WAS WONDERING IF YOU KNOW WHAT THE ROOM TEMPERATURE WILL BE DURING THE CLASSES?
A:GREAT Question! The City of Davis room that we use (Chestnut Roundhouse) does have central heat and air conditioning. I run hot blooded myself, so I keep the thermostat at 68 when I teach. In the middle of summer you can expect the room to be no hotter than 73. It should be under 70 in the Fall and Winter months.
A:For “smell” we will be working with orange essence scented clay and drawing with wax crayons before doing a coconut scented water color wash over the crayon drawing.
Q:WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SUPPLIES YOU USE?
A:I always use only the safest of non-toxic art supplies. If you can’t eat it, you won’t see it in my class. We will use food coloring, fruits, non-toxic pens, large pieces of paper, pudding, crushed cereal and other conventional and un-conventional items to make our creations. Many of the paints and clay I make personally out of 100% safe and eatable ingredients.
Q:WILL MY CHILD GET “MESSY?”
A:YES! Please wear clothes you don’t mind getting messy. A messy artist is a happy, engaged artist. Most special needs children have co-morbid anxiety issues and we really don’t want to add to that by stressing a need to stay “clean.” I will provide some old t-shirts if your child is more comfortable wearing them over their clothes.
Q:CAN THEIR BROTHER/SISTER COME TO?
A:Absolutely, as long as they are signed up for the class. Even if they have no special needs, they are welcome to enroll as well (as long as they don’t take your attention away from the other student and can respect the needs of the other students.)
Q:CAN WE TAKE THIS CLASS MORE THAN ONCE?
A:Absolutely!
Q:ARE YOU A LICENSED ART THERAPIST?
A:No, this is the other reason that I prefer a parent or other adult to accompany the child to the class. Having my own child on the Autism Spectrum and teaching art to children and adults of all ages for the last six years doesn’t make me an expert on YOUR child. I genuinely enjoy exposing people of all ages and abilities to the joys of making their own art, but this is not intended to replace any other therapeutic interventions or “cure” anyone. Only to give them an enriching experience most children are allowed to have regularly and our children may not be able to participate in.
Q:WHAT ARE THE TARGETED AGES FOR THIS CLASS?
A:I prefer to go by developmental age rather than chronological, but 5 years old is a baseline. I do have a break in the middle of the class and there's plenty of opportunity for self-pacing. I have had children in the class in the past who have had issues remaining seated in a more structured environment, have success in the art class. We also don't use scissors, so fine motor development is a non-issue. School age is just a guideline.
Q:I WAS WONDERING IF YOU KNOW WHAT THE ROOM TEMPERATURE WILL BE DURING THE CLASSES?
A:GREAT Question! The City of Davis room that we use (Chestnut Roundhouse) does have central heat and air conditioning. I run hot blooded myself, so I keep the thermostat at 68 when I teach. In the middle of summer you can expect the room to be no hotter than 73. It should be under 70 in the Fall and Winter months.
Thursday
Class 1 ~ TOUCH
Due to keeping the student's privacy, I will never show photo's of the children, but here's some of their work from our first class. These children ranged from 5 years old to 15 years old. All had Sensory Processing issues, most with other diagnosis (such as Autism and Cerebral Palsy.)
The focus of this class was TOUCH. We worked with tissue paper, fabric, blue sandpaper, pom-pom's, pipe cleaners, small popsicle sticks, feathers and leather. Each child also had a pair of gloves, glue in a cup w/ a brush and a glue stick. The focus was on sensory stimulation through touch and to open them up to "free art," aka: the focus being on the process of making the art, rather than the final product.
The focus of this class was TOUCH. We worked with tissue paper, fabric, blue sandpaper, pom-pom's, pipe cleaners, small popsicle sticks, feathers and leather. Each child also had a pair of gloves, glue in a cup w/ a brush and a glue stick. The focus was on sensory stimulation through touch and to open them up to "free art," aka: the focus being on the process of making the art, rather than the final product.
Saturday
Class 2 ~ TASTE
The focus of this class was TASTE. Its' amazing how enriching it can be to make art with common household items, including food. The paints that the children worked with were very thick and cold in texture. They were homemade by myself from a special recipe and 100% safe and edible.
Whenever painting I always only offer the three primary colors; Red, yellow and blue. It is far more enriching and stimulating for the children to mix their own colors, even accidentally. We also used fruit loops (with measuring cups and other safe "tools" for crushing and cutting them), small round pasta (to focus on pincer grasp) and various citrus fruits, as well as potatoe slices cut into stamp shapes. The children quickly used the citrus fruits as "paintbrushes," creating various textures and designs into the paint. All the children in this class, ages 5 to 15 enjoyed their experience with this project. One boy even enjoyed his very first orange slice!
Whenever painting I always only offer the three primary colors; Red, yellow and blue. It is far more enriching and stimulating for the children to mix their own colors, even accidentally. We also used fruit loops (with measuring cups and other safe "tools" for crushing and cutting them), small round pasta (to focus on pincer grasp) and various citrus fruits, as well as potatoe slices cut into stamp shapes. The children quickly used the citrus fruits as "paintbrushes," creating various textures and designs into the paint. All the children in this class, ages 5 to 15 enjoyed their experience with this project. One boy even enjoyed his very first orange slice!
Monday
Class 4 ~ SOUND
For this class I carefully selected six pieces of classical music. They were chosen for their soft melody, consistent tempo and lack of brass instruments. This project consisted of three steps, and is a pretty traditional "musical art" activity.
Step 1) I put the first song on and encouraged the children to start with a regular pencil and draw "with their ears and hand, not their eyes." Some looked away while drawing, others closed them for a moment. The point was to let the music guide your hand and not worry about what it looked like. This lasted about 2 minutes.
Step 2) The second song came on. Each child had a dark crayon in their "supply baggie." (It is crucial that each child have their own supplies ready for them and their own spot defined by something visual like a mat.) The children then chose what lines they wanted to "define" by tracing over them with the crayon. Again, this lasted about 2 minutes.
Step 3) The third song came on. The children used their coloring supplies, (colored pencils, fat and thin markers) to color in the shapes created by the overlapping lines. The wax border created by the crayons helps to make shading in the shapes easier.
They then repeated the activity on a larger sheet of paper. I told them that the first work of art had been a "warm-up" and that we would do it again with three new songs (all no more than two minutes in length.) It is helpful to give children the "real" activity after they know what to expect and have tried it. Sure enough, on the second, larger sheet, almost everyone made larger, sweeping lines with their pencils rather than the tight scribble lines of the first sheet. The resulting art was very beautiful and interesting.
Step 1) I put the first song on and encouraged the children to start with a regular pencil and draw "with their ears and hand, not their eyes." Some looked away while drawing, others closed them for a moment. The point was to let the music guide your hand and not worry about what it looked like. This lasted about 2 minutes.
Step 2) The second song came on. Each child had a dark crayon in their "supply baggie." (It is crucial that each child have their own supplies ready for them and their own spot defined by something visual like a mat.) The children then chose what lines they wanted to "define" by tracing over them with the crayon. Again, this lasted about 2 minutes.
Step 3) The third song came on. The children used their coloring supplies, (colored pencils, fat and thin markers) to color in the shapes created by the overlapping lines. The wax border created by the crayons helps to make shading in the shapes easier.
They then repeated the activity on a larger sheet of paper. I told them that the first work of art had been a "warm-up" and that we would do it again with three new songs (all no more than two minutes in length.) It is helpful to give children the "real" activity after they know what to expect and have tried it. Sure enough, on the second, larger sheet, almost everyone made larger, sweeping lines with their pencils rather than the tight scribble lines of the first sheet. The resulting art was very beautiful and interesting.
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