Class Structure

So you might be wondering what a typical Cartwheel Arts class looks like? Throughout the schoolyear, classes are 90 minutes long and follow a certain framework. 

The first 30 minutes the kids participate in nature-based unstructured play. This could look like playing in mud, looking for rolly pollies, hanging upside down from the monkey bars, riding bikes. The kids choose to play whatever calls to them. We might also have an art area set up as well if we're creating a group mural each week or our art project needs drying time inbetween steps.

The next segment is Circle Time. We sit together in a circle, talking about the theme of the day, review what we learned int he previous class, reviewing emotional processing tools, talking about emotions, learning about people from history who also felt big emotions, and learning new emotional processing tools. This time lasts 15–20 minutes, depending on the kid's attention span and interest.

The final 45 minutes are devoted to process art that correlates with the theme of the series. The kids gather round the tables and get to work, designing their own masterpiece in their own way, which is very empowering!

As kids finish their art they can go back to unstructured nature-based play. We often are known for bring out our special water balloons at this point to help kids let go of their anger and other heavy emotions. We have them visualize a specific heavy emotion traveling down their arm, into their hand, and into the water balloon, which then goes splat against the target. We're not designed to hold onto those heavy emotions, so this is a great way to model this concept.