ArtBeast!

We took the morning off from all chores and therapies and headed to midtown to check out ArtBeast Studio on the recommendations of three friends.

John Michael and Greta had a blast. Within seconds of letting John Michael try his hand at painting (I'm bummed I didn't get a photo), he grabbed the white paint loaded brush from my hand and put it in his mouth. If I didn't have to go wash out his white tongue and lips, I would've snapped a photo. He reminded me of some tribal boy or an old-fashioned black and white film actor.

Abandoning the art room for John Michael until he's a little older, we went out back to the shady courtyard. He quickly decided to (literally) try the sand and rocks. The next photo shows him trying to scrape sand off his tongue.

ArtBeast Studio is a dynamic, super-fun, new hands-on art exploratorium for children 6 and under. It is located in an old wooden house, maybe from the 1920's?, and boasts three stories of activities to encourage creativity, including music, pretend play, puppet theatre, a stage for the "actors", doll house loft and kitchen play area, art and craft tables with clay, paper, collage, paint, etc., upstairs dance studio with tumble mats for infants and a separate room for toddlers & preschoolers, and an outdoor courtyard for more water play to wash babies, scoop sand and gravel, and to bang these old pots and pans as loud as their heart's desire.

John Michael LOVED banging on the huge drum. I'm pretty sure he'll be a drummer some day! The metal structure behind him is made up of aluminum tubing, dryer hoses, large tomato sauce cans and other aluminum objects to make a cool hideout.

Greta loved playing the guitar and performing on the stage. I couldn't believe how much fun it was! We stayed 2 hours, left for lunch at a nearby restaurant, and returned for another round of play for Greta while John Michael napped in my arms.