Our home is a bustling place and I find myself juggling many balls at once… homeschooling, driving kits to activities, teaching piano lessons & classes, serving our Classical Conversations community, and managing a household. Can you relate?
Even though I’m busy, I don’t want to compromise my standards for our kids’ education, particularly in the area of fine arts. It’s so important that they receive a well rounded education but it’s hard to fit in everything I want to do. What is a mom to do?
Choosing Art Curriculum
My husband and I are both professional musicians by trade and providing our kids with a high quality arts education is a top priority. When choosing an art program we want to find one that:
- Introduces our kids to art from an historical perspective
- Teaches our children how to appreciate and assess art
- Gives our kids an introduction to various art techniques and mediums
- Promotes and celebrates the creative process
- Is high quality, easy to implement, and affordable
We have tried numerous art programs that we have enjoyed but many are either time intensive to teach or result in a cookie cutter approach. Though the kids have had fun with our art activities, we haven’t felt as if they’ve met our educational goals to the fullest extent.
Discovering Artkeyology
I am a huge fan of subscription boxes and recently discovered an art subscription box called Artkeyology that provides high quality open-and-go art lessons. This program is easy to implement and offers a fun and rich learning experience. And, I don’t have to plan anything because it’s curated by an art educator and delivered to my doorstep. It’s kind of like an art class delivered to my home. Yay!
The creator of Artkeyology is a fellow homeschool mom. She recently reached out to me and asked me if our family would like to try one of their boxes. I am so excited to share it with you today! If you’d like to learn more please read my Artkeyology review below.
What is Artkeyology?
Artkeyology is an art subscription box for kids that delivers an expertly curated art lesson to your doorstep each month. The boxes are designed for ages 7-12. Each box provides components of art appreciation, technique, and a project. You will find a variety of materials, techniques, and artists and art movements represented. One of our favorite elements of the Artkeyology box is the QR code that can be used to access a video lesson.
As a fellow arts educator, Artkeyology’s philosophy resonates with me.
“At Artkeyology we believe that every artwork is unique, just like every artist! You won’t find any cookie cutter craft projects in our boxes, just quality art instruction with lots of room for creativity and individual expression… All children have the ability to create beautiful works of art and express themselves creatively.”
What is inside the Box?
The lessons and materials boxes have been created by Audrey Albright, a homeschool mom and art educator with a masters degree in art education. She provides everything you need for a rich and fun learning experience.
In your box you will find:
- Information about the artist information from an historical, geographical, and artistic perspective
- An overview of the elements and principles used in the art project
- Written step-by-step instructions + a QR code you can scan to follow a video tutorial
- Online links if you’d like to learn more about the artist or movement.
- If you are a subscriber you will also receive a custom Artkeyology pencil pouch to store the supplies you receive in your monthly kits
- Artist grade supplies needed for the art project
Our Experience with Artkeyology
Our family chose the pop art food painting Artkeyology box because it aligned well with our fine arts study in Classical Conversations. It is also an art style we haven’t learned a lot about.
The kit included everything needed for the project. The only item we provided was a pencil. The materials were artist quality and we loved the little tin our magnetic paint palettes came in. We were very impressed with the vibrancy of the paint and quality of the brush. It was apparent that an artist had curated the kid and the materials were a higher quality than what we’ve received with other art kits
After gathering the materials, I used the information sheet included in our packet to lead a discussion about the pop art movement and the art elements and principals used. The links included in the packet allowed us to expand our lesson and dig deeper.
Our kids loved watching Mrs. Albright’s video lesson using the QR code included. She walked us through the project step by step and provided instruction about art techniques. This allowed me the freedom to assist the kids as needed rather than provide the instruction myself.
The end result was not a cookie cutter project, but rather a reflection of what each child learned in the lesson.
Our Honest Thoughts
This kit is exactly what our family had been looking for. It provided high quality instruction by an art educator, incorporated art history and technique, and promoted the creative process.
In addition, it worked beautiful for a wide range of ages and backgrounds. Even though it is recommend for ages 7-12, our very artsy teen loved it.
I appreciated being free to assist and not teach. It was a treat for me to provide our kids with a high quality experience that I didn’t have to plan, prepare, and execute. It really did feel like an art class was delivered to my doorstep.
I was provided an art kit free of charge in exchange for an honest review but all opinions are my own. Artkeyology has made its way to my fine arts favorites and subscription box favorites and will be part of our fine arts curriculum in our homeschool next year.
How to Get Artkeyology
You may order boxes a la carte to align with topics you are studying, or you can order the boxes as part of a subscription program in 3-, 6-, or 12-month plans. If you have multiple children, rather than ordering multiple boxes you can opt for a sibling box for a nominal additional fee. I love this practical and money saving option!
Each month focuses on a different artist or art movement. For example, they offer theme art lessons on cave painting and Greek pottery, as well as boxes that feature particular artists such as Kandinsky and Kahlo. New boxes are being added each month.
To learn more about Artkeyology you may visit them online at www.Artkeyologybox.com or visit their Etsy shop where you can purchase a la carte boxes or subscriptions.