Live or recorded: which online art class works for children?

For children, we think a live and interactive class works best as the main class, because a teacher can see the work and answer while it is happening. A recording works best as the backup: for a missed class, or for watching a step again. Our classes do both: two live and interactive classes a week on Zoom, and every class recorded with lifetime access.

What does a live and interactive class give a child?

Someone who is watching. When a 7 year old's watercolour runs into the next shape, or a 10 year old cannot get a fine liner line to sit right, the teacher sees it and says something in that minute. The child fixes it and keeps going.

A child can also ask the question they would never think to type. Why does my sky look muddy? Where does the shadow go? Those get answered in the class, while the paint is still wet.

It also gives a time and a group. Two classes a week, at the same time, with children of the same age. For many children, that rhythm is what keeps them drawing between classes.

Parents notice the attention to each child most. One parent in India wrote:

"Kids are drawing with enthusiasm and teacher also teaches according to child's level."

Vidya, a parent in India

Our classes are led by Richa and the teachers she trained on her curriculum: Maithily, Ankita, Tisha and Sejal. You can read about each of them on the teachers page.

What are recorded lessons good for?

Recorded lessons are good at three things. They are there at any hour. They can be paused while the paint dries. And a hard step can be watched three times without anyone waiting.

They suit a child who is already sure of what they want to learn and can keep going alone. What a recording cannot do is look back at your child's page. Nobody sees the drawing until you do.

Why not have both?

This is why every one of our classes is recorded. The live and interactive hour is the class. The recording is what your child keeps afterwards, for life.

In practice, families use the recordings in a few ways:

• A class missed for a school event or a family trip is watched that weekend.
• A child who could not finish in the hour watches the last part again and completes the drawing.
• A favourite class is watched months later, just to draw it again.

Because every class is recorded, a missed class is never lost. The questions page covers missed classes and recordings in more detail.

How much screen time is a live online art class?

Less than parents expect. The Zoom screen is for the reference: the teacher shows the step, then the children turn to their paper. Most of the hour is spent with oil pastels, watercolour cakes, poster colours or pencils in hand, not eyes on the screen.

For a 5 year old this matters most. The Pre-Junior batch works with crayons, sketch pens and oil pastels, so the hour feels like an art class at a table, with a teacher on the other side of the screen.

A recorded lesson can look like less screen time, but a child following a video often watches more of it, because there is nobody to ask.

Questions to ask before you choose any online art class

1. Who looks at my child's work during the class, and how?
2. Is the class grouped by age?
3. What happens if my child misses a class?
4. How long do we keep the recordings?
5. Can my child try one real class before we pay?

Our answers: a teacher who sees the work in a live and interactive class; three batches, for ages 5 to 8, 8 to 11 and 11 and above; every class recorded; access for life; and a free trial that is the next real class of the batch you pick. The join page has the fee and the batch times.

A recording is a good second copy of a class. For a child learning to draw, the first copy works best with a teacher watching.

Book a free trial class and see the live and interactive hour for yourself.