A group of women gathered in a room, posing for a group photo around a large, colorful painting on the floor. The group consists of women of various ages and backgrounds, smiling and standing close together. The room has light blue walls and various supplies and chairs are visible around the space.

Professional Development for Educators

Bring creativity and art into your classroom with confidence. Choose how you want your support delivered.

Logo with a red circle, featuring a child's drawing of a child riding a horse, with the text 'The Artful Child' around the top and bottom of the circle.

Creativity Belongs in Every Classroom

Even when it’s hard to know where to start

  • Early Childhood Centres

  • School Boards

  • Montessori & Reggio-inspired Schools

  • Independent Schools

  • Private Studios

  • Educator Conferences

  • Secondary Schools

  • Early Years Coaches

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A large group of diverse women and some men pose on the steps outside of a historic brick church building with arched windows, some women holding drinks, smiling at the camera on a sunny day.

Looking for a Research Informed Way to Use Art as a Tool for Learning?

Our live, on-line coaching program gives you practical, observable changes to make to your classroom, along with ongoing support between sessions. The next cohort begins August 2026, and spots are limited to keep the group small and personal.

  • Live coaching circles

  • One on one consulting

  • In person workshops

  • Virtual professional development

  • Conference sessions and keynotes

The Artful Child® Environment Coaching Circle
Request a PD Session
Tell us what you need!
People seated around tables participating in a crafting workshop, with materials like glue, scissors, and decorative items, in a room with large windows showing a cityscape outside.
People sitting at a long table involved in arts and crafts, with various craft supplies including ribbons, beads, glue, and paper. Participants are engaging in creating jewelry or decorations.
A vertical banner displaying the logo for The Artful Child, established in 1970, with a red and white color scheme. The banner promotes a creative preschool, art after school programs, family drop-in events, and school trips. The bottom of the banner includes contact information and a website URL.
Two women standing behind a table filled with crafting materials, including sticks, foam balls, and cardboard, in front of a large screen displaying the text 'Beads are only one possibility. When we expand the materials we are thinking.'
A woman smiling and making a fist in a room decorated with colorful art and crafts displayed on the wall.

I'm the owner of The Artful Child®; process art studios built on the belief that children learn best through hands on, open ended creativity. Our YES Environment framework grew out of 12 years of studio work and more than 55 years of classroom experience across generations. I have partnered with school boards and childcare organizations, to bring this framework directly into classrooms. Through years of conversations with educators, I have come to understand the real limitations classrooms face, and the contradiction educators face when research consistently shows children learn best when given genuine freedom and choice with art materials. 

You don’t have to be an artist, you just need to understand the WHY and have the right framework behind it. I would love to help you build that.

Interested in joining the next Artful Child Environment Coaching Circle?
“ I enjoyed our conversations about process art and will take what I learned with me and use it in the classroom”
— Early Childhood Educator - TDSB
“We will be in touch to have you back next year! ”
— Raizell S. - George Brown Polytechnic Institute
Group of women standing together in an art and craft studio decorated with colorful hanging paper lanterns and artwork, with a table in front of them full of art supplies and projects, including a head sculpt with colorful paint and foam decorations.
A woman sitting at a table with arts and crafts materials, gesturing with her hands, in an art studio with paintings and art supplies on the walls and table.
Table with colorful tissue paper, washi tape, rolls of tape, colored pencils in a holder, and paper pamphlet about jewelry making.
“It was one of the workshops we heard most about. Excited to see where we can take it again this year” ”
— M. Smith -Early Years Strategy Specialist
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Request Professional Development
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“This was so insightful and allowed us to be creative as a team. 10/10”
— Early Childhood Educator, Chatham-Kent System Wide Early Years Conference

A Framework Built From Real Classrooms

Children learn through hands on testing of their environment, and through play. Most educators are never taught how to turn that fact into a working classroom. Our professional development grew directly out of this need. With more than 55 years of creative classroom experience across generations, and 12 years of hands on studio work testing what actually holds up in real, working spaces, we built the YES Environment framework to close that gap. We have brought it directly into classrooms alongside school boards, colleges, and municipalities across Ontario.

Children participating in arts and crafts activities in a creative classroom or art studio, with various art supplies, colorful decorations, and paintings visible.
Child with curly hair in leopard-print pajamas standing at an art easel, painting with colorful paints. The surroundings include a covered table with paint splatters, a backpack, and various art supplies, in a classroom or art studio.