Our teachers & teaching artists
Dedicated, expert artistic and educational instruction is one of the studio’s key areas of commitment — and it starts with the people we invite into the room.
How we choose educators
Studio Creative Play is a relationship-based program, so educators are chosen first for how they relate — not only for what they can demonstrate. A teacher’s first job is to know each child: to notice what a child returns to, what surprises them, and what they are ready to try next.
We also look for patience for process over product. A teaching artist here is comfortable when a painting takes three sessions, when a story arrives in fragments, or when a movement phrase never quite reaches its finale — because the learning lives in the revisiting, not in the finished piece.
And because every family volunteers for one session over the three-month cycle, our educators must be comfortable co-teaching with parents: adults are in the room as partners, and our teachers treat them as collaborators rather than spectators.
Disciplines our teaching artists cover
Weekly sessions and special presentations draw on a wide range of art forms, integrated into the play schedule at consistent intervals so learning builds on itself.
- Creative movement
- Drama & puppetry
- Musical expression
- Sign-language
- Arts & crafts
- Storytelling
- Yoga
- Conflict resolution
Small groups mean every young artist gets a teacher’s full attention.
A 4:1 ratio, by design
Children’s studio sessions are intentionally small — roughly four children to each teacher — so instruction can be genuinely responsive. In a group that size, an educator can sit beside a hesitant builder, return to yesterday’s idea without losing the rest of the room, and keep the documentation honest: creative portfolios record each child’s steps, not a generalized impression of the group.
The ratio is also what makes real relationships possible. Children are known by name and by habit, parents meet the same faces week after week, and trust has time to grow before the cycle ends.
Teach with the studio
Are you a dancer, puppeteer, musician, visual artist or storyteller who believes children learn through relationships? The studio invites teaching artists to introduce themselves — tell us what you practice and how you would share it with children from eighteen months to seven years. Contact the studio to start the conversation, or see the applications process.
Bring your practice into the room
Teaching artists and educators can call the studio at 718-623-2775 or write khahtee@studiocreativeplay.org to introduce themselves.