Susan Riley| March 2014

Eye Can Art Product Review

Every once in a while I run across an art product or resource that I just feel compelled to share with you because of it’s incredible potential for children.  I stumbled across this latest art product – Eye Can Art – in the gift shop at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and thought it might be a great little Christmas gift for my daughter.  I couldn’t be more pleased!  Here’s my quick review of Eye Can Art, complete with a Kid-Tested and Approved art product showcase.

Printmaking Kit

We tried out the printmaking kit which retails for about $20.  This kit included everything you needed, minus one sheet pan, to complete 5-6 printmaking projects.  Now, printmaking can be messy and complicated – especially for pre-schoolers – but this kit keeps the mess contained and does a nice job of walking you through the process.

Eye Can Art Product Review, Education Closet

Instructions

One of the things that made me so excited about this kit were the instruction that were included.  These instructions really provide you with not only step-by-step actions to achieve a successful print, but also guiding questions for your child to think about throughout the process.  So it allows them to make critical artistic and scientific decisions based upon their color choice, design and materials.

Eye Can Art Product Review, Education Closet

High-Quality Art Product

Also included in this kit were Speedball paints and a heft print roller, so you could ensure that the paint will cover the whole surface smoothly.  I would have liked to see more color choice, but of course with the red and blue paints we enjoyed a little color mixing mini-lesson too.

Eye Can Art Product Review, Education Closet

Eye Can Art Product Review, Education Closet

 

Success!

Overall, this was a wonderful art product to use during one of our family art nights and left my daughter and I both smiling with her finished art product.  As a teacher, I love that this could be extended to connect with ideas such as math (geometry, symmetry, and proportion are all jumping off points) and social studies (cultural masks and prints).and could be used as a center in an arts integrated classroom.

Eye Can Art Product Review, Education Closet

Whether as a parent or as an educator, Eye Can Art kits are a great find for arts integrated exploration!

PS – We do not create paid art product reviews.  This is truly just a great art product that we wanted to share with our readers!

About the Author

Susan Riley is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM. This is the world’s largest online resource for educators interested in integrating the arts. She has presented at events and authored articles for many educational organizations including The US Department of Education, Palmetto State Arts Education, Edutopia, Education Week, Americans for the Arts, ASCD, and NPR. She regularly presents at national and international events each year. She is the author of three books and is a sought-after collaborator for innovative educational projects around the globe. Susan brings creativity, practicality, dedication and passion to the education landscape. She is well-respected for her pioneering work in the fields of Arts Integration and STEAM education with a standards-based approach. As an educator who taught for 10 years in public schools, as well as served in central office leadership, she understands the fast-paced change, challenges and promise of 21st century schools. As an entrepreneur, she has successfully taken what was once a simple education blog and developed it into a rapidly-growing and highly-respected educational institution. Her team of 15+ teachers, leaders and coaches support over over 500,000 educators each month worldwide. Susan holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the prestigious Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and a Master of Science in Education Administration from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. She lives in Westminster, MD with her husband and daughter. Email Susan