Imagine having a bank of play-based process art lessons for early years… open-ended prompts, center extensions, and just enough structure to support real learning.
Yes, please!A story from my early years art classes...
I taught early years art knowing, in theory, that young children learn best through play, exploration, and choice.
But knowing that and teaching that were not the same thing.
In practice, I worried that loosening control would mean chaos.
Paint everywhere.
Children stuck or wandering.
A constant internal question of whether real learning was actually happening.
I found myself stuck between two options that both felt wrong.
Highly controlled projects that looked calm but limited children’s thinking.
Or open-ended exploration that sounded right, but felt overwhelming to manage.
What I needed was not another explanation of why process art matters.
I needed to know how it actually looks in an early years classroom.
With real children.
Real time constraints.
And real expectations for structure.
Playful Process grew out of years of trial, error, and refinement in my own early years art room.
It is the curriculum I wish I had when I was trying to honor how young children learn, while still creating classrooms that felt calm, intentional, and manageable.
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone!
Say less, I'm in! 🙋🏼
Built in real early years classrooms...
Playful Process reflects what art teaching actually looks like in early years classrooms, balancing exploration with the routines and structures young children need.
Designed to lighten the mental load...
Playful Process reduces the mental load of planning and managing early years art, so your energy can go into observing, guiding, and teaching rather than constant management.
Let’s do this!
Access the full Playful Process lesson library and explore at your own pace.
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Here's a sneak peek
Ready to use early years art lessons at your fingertips.
What Teachers Are Saying:
This has so many great resources in it, and I have only done a few but all were fun and successful. The ideas are doable for young learners and easy prep
— Cassandra
This was exactly what I needed! It’s well-organized, easy to use, and saved me so much prep time. My students were highly engaged and the activities aligned perfectly with our learning goals. I appreciate the clear directions and thoughtful design—it’s evident that a lot of care went into creating it. I’ll definitely be using this again and recommending it to my colleagues!
— Janessa
I am using this resource for my art lessons in class. Our school requires creative art to be process, rather than product and this has been so helpful.
-Mimi
My students loved the open-ended format of these lessons. Many lessons used materials I already had, which was a plus. Just playing with materials was exciting and rewarding for my kids.
— Cheryl N.
Extremely helpful with trying to get started going a choice based art program. Also, was perfect because it is more age appropriate to have centers since I see the grades for 45 minutes.
-Melissa
Thank you for a great group of lesson ideas that fit with my younger students exploration of different mediums.
— Samantha M.
