Category: Studio News

Our next Curious Kids session starts in just two weeks! Every session I try and include fan favourites, new classes, and old classes we haven’t done in awhile. Lego is our most popular class so of course that class will be available both in our Jarvis Studio and Simcoe Studio. Mixed Bag will be making its return! A class that is something different every class such as: arts, crafts, playdoh, lego, music, drama, games, and so much more. It’s a great class for kids that aren’t too sure what they like or like having a variety of fun! This session we will be bringing Mixed Bag to Jarvis and Simcoe! I also would like to try out a new class, Disney Night! A fun fact about me, I had the opportunity to work in Disney World down in Florida. Disney is something I hold close to my heart and would love to share my love for it. Disney based games, trivia, pin trading, movies, shows, colouring, Star Wars, Marvel, just everything Disney! This new session will be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to get started on it! 

-Travis

Here, at Lupton Street Studios, when we do a painting session, whether with kids or adults, we always start with the same five colours.

Yellow, blue and red, as you probably know, are the primary colours. Black and white are not considered colours but they allow us to create all kinds of variations in our palette.

Why only these five hues? Well, I myself as a painter discovered two universal truths about colour…

The first one was that if I wanted to own a tube of every colour that exists, it would cost me horrible amounts of money. It would also take way too much space in my craft room. I mean, I love shopping at my local Arts and Crafts store. But there’s a limit to the amount of dollars I’m able to shell out on that yummy bran new shade of blue…

This hard truth led me to the second discovery. I decided that if I wasn’t gonna buy every different colour available, I had to try and recreate them. I poured some of my trusted basic primary colours unto a plate, and started trying all kinds of mixes and combinations.

Cue the music of angels singing in heaven as a ray of light shines down on my head: a portal of creative expression opened wide in front of my eyes. I was mixing all kinds of pinks, purples or greens, some light, some dark, some very bright and peppy, some subdued and delicate… There was simply no limit to what you could come up with.

This is why I rarely give pre-mixed colours in my painting events. I like to give a chance to every participant to discover that it does not matter if you don’t come up with the exact same shade of blue as me. What matters is that you discover that YOU are in control, and you can create the mix that pleases you the most!

Check this video to get just a glimpse of the adventure of mixing colours. You will also discover that terms we tend to use interchangeably like hue, tint, shade or tone, actually have very different meanings! Have you ever explored colours in this way? I’m challenging you to try it!

Our next Curious Kids session starts March 21st! The thing I love about our Curious Kids sessions, is that every session has some kid favourites, mixed in with some brand new classes and returning classes. There is always something for someone. Lego, Drama, Musical Theatre, Dungeons&Dragons, we are always trying to broaden our horizons. The thing I love most is the social aspect of it all. Meeting new friends, having fun, creating, learning the list goes on. I can’t wait to start our new session next week!

-Travis

What comes to mind when you hear the words “music theory”?

Seems boring? Dry? Complicated? Guess again!

Music theory can be so much fun! There is an infinite number of games and activities we can use to help little ones getting familiar with the basics of music. Even before starting to actually learn to play an instrument, they can be exposed to a bunch of musical concepts in ways that engage their mind and their senses.

Our teachers are always thinking about new ways to introduce kids of all ages to music. Here’s one kid who’s having the time of his life with Travis!

First, Ryder is learning about note values. Each square block equals one beat. Some notes are worth one beat, or two beats, or half a beat. Some blocks represent a rest – a silent beat in the music. By placing all these blocks in a certain order one after the other, Ryder essentially just wrote his own rhythmic composition!

Ryder is also playing with cards that represent the sections of the keyboard. Each card must be placed in the right order, and then he carefully position each letter representing a note on the right key. When he’s big enough to finally sit at a real piano, Ryder will already know how to find a C or a G. It will make it very easy and fun to start learning to play!

Keep an eye on this blog to get a quick description of some of our games in the future!