Private
Art and Fairy Tale
Workshops
Hi there!
I'm Karolina
I organize workshops for children like Maria where we create art to make up our own personal fairy tales.
Through art,
I nurture children's imagination
to create fairy tales.
When children express themselves within the realms of fantastical storytelling, it gives an opportunity to have a better connection with their own emotions, tackle internal struggles, and practice conflict resolution.
During the session, we explore various art materials and different techniques to create personal fairy tales.
Later, we go outside to playfully act out the stories.
A workshop where children can...
...create imaginary narratives to gain a better connection with their emotions.
During the workshop, we create many abstract drawings. I ask the child to interpret what the drawing could be about. What the child is guided through seeing is that which reflects their current values and significant memories.
Then, inspired by that interpretation, I encourage the child to create a short tale with themselves as the main character. Creating a fantastical story through imagination is an opportunity for the child to connect with their emotions and express them in a metaphorical form.
...face internal struggles in a form of monsters.
We discuss with children that we love fairy tales for how a hero goes through struggles and challenges on their adventure. The reason we are captivated by this is because we all have to face challenges in real life as well. After giving children a few examples I encourage them to remember their own recent experiences when they felt they had a struggle to overcome and how that made them feel.
Later, when we are creating the fantastical story based on their drawing the child plays the main character. I suggest that the story could be inspired by the personal experience they told me about earlier. This gives them an opportunity to face their anxieties in a form of monsters and see the sequence of events as a quest or any other way they should like.
...practice conflict resolution with stories that end happily ever after.
The most famous fairy tales have happy endings to inspire children to be hopeful and more confident when it comes to experiencing life’s hurdles. When children create fantastical stories about their artworks, they too often involve drama or conflict. I encourage children to create a happy ending for their fairy tale and this way they have an opportunity to resolve the conflict of the story.
Prices
3-hour workshops for children aged 4-10 organized inside your home in London.
During the session, we explore various art materials and different techniques to create personal fairy tales. In addition, we playfully act out the stories to embody our heroic journeys.
Testimonials
Follow-up products:
reflecting the inner world of your child
Note: all products will be made and delivered to you during the cold season or the latest by summertime 2023.
Q&A
Is the workshop a therapy session?
No, this is not a therapy session. The workshop can have the potential to be therapeutic as much as telling children bedtime fairy tales but my role is to plant the seeds for the child’s imagination to flourish and to facilitate their inner growth through storytelling.
How long does the workshop last?
The length of the session varies as it will depend on how many children are involved and how much children are interested in continuing to play with art-making games or elaborate on their fairy tales, and how often they need to take breaks.
I can assure you that the workshop will last at least 3 hours but it may run over for extra 30min to 1.5hours.
What will happen during the workshop?
We choose a spot where we lay over a waterproof sheet with all our gathered art supplies. While children begin to draw, I tell them about fairy tales, the concept of the workshop, and ask them about their likes and dislikes. Then we play a number of art games with various materials and techniques, generally starting with dry materials and moving on to wet ones. If children are older, I may bring a glue gun and other tools that allow them to make 3D figures and objects.
For each piece of artwork, we try to create a fantastical short story with the child as the main character.
Throughout the day we take breaks as and when the child needs to – usually in the middle of the artmaking part or if we get bored playing with art materials. Then we go outside to playfully act out the personal fairy tales while I record these magical moments with photographs.
Should children know each other?
I recommend organizing the session for children who are siblings, relatives, or close friends. This way they have an opportunity to create fairy tales where they go through adventures together. If you know your child/children will feel good engaging in a workshop with other children they don’t know, it is perfectly fine to do so. This way children are likely to choose to go through fairy-tale adventures separately but still enrich each other’s creative outcomes along the way.
What about art supplies?
All materials will be provided but children can and should be encouraged to bring any favorite art supplies or materials they would like to explore to add more personal flair to their artworks and stories.
Where outside will children act out their fairy tales?
Most of the time we act out our fairy tales in the back garden. If there is no such thing available, we can go to the nearest park. In that case, a parent/carer/nanny/guardian has to accompany us during this short trip.
Why is the workshop organized inside the homes of children?
The goal of this workshop is to create fairy tales that are truly personal for the child. When I work with children inside their homes, they can show me their favourite toys, the drawings they are proud of, as well as the games they enjoy playing on a daily basis. With my guidance, a lot of those details get reflected in the child’s fairy tales.
How many children should participate in the workshop for the best experience?
Depending on the group size, the experience does not get better or worse but has its own differing attributes.
1-to-1 session allows the child to have my full attention. This way I can learn more about the unique characteristics of the child and adapt the activities to their specific needs. Together we create fairy tales that have many more elements from their personal life. It is a great option for those who are thinking of commissioning a Neverland Portrait painting.
A session with 2 children still allows me to create connections with each of them and learn about their personalities. In addition, children get an opportunity to play art games together, create mutual artworks, and contribute ideas for each other’s fantastical stories. They can also choose to create fairy tales where they go through adventures together. This is also a great option if you want to commission a Neverland Portrait painting.
During a workshop with a group of 3 or 4 children, I learn less about their unique traits but children have an enjoyable time by contributing ideas about each other’s drawing interpretations and potential fairy-tale scenarios. It is particularly fun to act out the fairy tales where children can choose roles they want to play and decide how the acting scene should unfold.
In some cases, it is okay for more than 4 children to participate in the workshop, especially if there are older siblings who are eager to join. However, the art-making part can be quite tiring in large groups at times since everyone has to wait until every child has had their turn to talk about their outcome and the potential storyline that could come from their work.
This is exactly the message that fairy tales get across to the child in manifold form: that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable, is an intrinsic part of human existence — but that if one does not shy away, but steadfastly meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end emerges victorious.
– psychologist Bruno Bettelheim