Centers are areas of focused learning in the classroom. With 2-6 activities set up in different areas, students move through at their own pace or at the teacher’s direction. There are many benefits including small group instruction, differentiation, student-centered learning, and increased engagement.

All of this sounds great. But does the idea of having multiple activities going on at once make you anxious?

I felt the same way.

But the truth is, many elementary students are accustomed to using centers because their grade level teachers have used them. And while planning and implementing centers in the art room might feel a bit overwhelming at first, you’ll quickly realize why more and more teachers are using this strategy.

It really does work.

Find out more about my centers workshop for art teachers here.

When I started using centers it was somewhat by accident. In an attempt to fill a content standard, I created a unit about how artists find inspiration. I decided the best way to illustrate this idea was to set-up centers around my art room. Each center would have a different inspiration starter to explore various ways artists find ideas.

My centers were…

1. Memories + Experiences

2. Exploration

3. Observations

4. Feelings + Emotions

Over the course of 4 class periods, students rotated through centers. During each class, unique learning experiences unfolded as students discovered new ways to bring their ideas and stories to the surface and use them as inspiration for art making. The prompt was imbedded in the structure of the lesson while the art making and final product was inspired by each individual artist.

Since the success of that unit, I’ve explored many ways to use centers in the elementary art room.

If you’re interested in learning more on this topic, you can check it out here.