Keli Dimari
Google
New location tips: If you get here early, parallel parking works, but if not there's parking lots close-by behind the shops too! Also, there's a little coffee store nextdoor that's open, if you get here a touch early. It's now a favorite ritual of mine to get myself a coffee, and get my kiddo a steamed milk with 1/2 pump vanilla or hazelnut, and just pause and chat a little about how his week went, what he wants to do, what he thinks, what makes him happy, etc. right before heading into class.
...........I promise I'm not an ad or anything weird, I can pass robot checks, really! I just love the team at Artichoke and followed them from their old location to this one, because they are wonderful and it's a safe, happy space. My son has been here for close to 3 years, and I absolutely adore Susha and Ana and Artichoke. I'm so so so so so sooooo happy they kept prices reasonable even though it was tough as nails during the pandemic! First, they accept kids as young as two, which is awesome because most activities want kids to be 5; it’s so hard to find really good enrichment activities for young kids, and playgrounds only go so far. The classes are parent-and-child till about 3 or 4; it depends on the kid, but it’s lovely to watch them bloom and become more independent. My son can now do a class more or less without me, he loves coming to artichoke and asks if it’s Friday yet (because after Friday, it’s weekend and Artichoke time). It’s a lovely class because you finally get a space and a carved out time slot, to truly connect with your kid, while doing fun, creative, well-thought-out projects. Each week, Susha and Ana plan out a project that is more or less completed within a single class, and the following week, you pick it up. Even in the 2yo group, they get to play with a ton of different mixed media...everything from clay to stickers, paint, popsicle sticks, acrylics, watercolors, glittery/pearly acrylics, glue, little bedazzle gems, beads, foil, etc. It's awesome and they don't go cheap with the materials; it's really innovative and playful. Every other lesson or so is painting, and the other is something super spiffy like a robot with aluminum foil whose limbs can detach! I love those types the most, the mushroom nightlight, the robot, the little clay dish; it's so much fun for both of us. It builds your kid’s understanding of different materials, their confidence in themselves, and their own patience with things. I’m very high-strung (several reasons for that), but this class helps with balancing things out more. The teacher and the assistants are very laid back and kind and patient....sooooo very patient! When my child first came here at 2, he couldn’t focus and was very fidgety, and part of that is age, but he has improved a lot and gained a lot of skills and joy from this class. If your kid is really young when you bring them, do your best to be patient, they will get better at it and focus better with time. 😁 It helped him learn to pay attention, develop dexterity, explore things, and trust in his own intuition about what he wants to make. He has learned that he can make whatever he wants if he fidgets with it enough and just figures out what to make it out of. It is just such a wonderful experience, I hope this place stays forever and ever!! If you aren't sure, you should most definitely give it a try! I promise it is wonderful and it is stress relief and will get you thinking more creatively on how to upcycle some things around the house, too. It's so much fun, even for the adult. To try to replicate something like this at home, consistently, with the variety of materials and the amount of research and planning you would need to do, would be a heckuvalot of work, cost a lot, and you would have a ton of weird scraps of things leftover, as one does from any art project. I really really really highly recommend this. Of all the things we do, this class is my favorite and I’m just looking for a way to carve out time to come here myself. 😆❤️
