Quick Takeaway
Inclusive art for children opens the door for every child to take part in creative group experiences. In this post, you’ll discover practical ways to guide young artists using my simple Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework, built from over 60 community and school projects with more than 2,000 participants. I want to help you do the same with my helpful digital resources, making group art easy, fun, and rewarding for all.
This post is part of my “About Series,” where I share the story behind Painting Around is Fun and how Pattern Play Collaborative Art came to life. You can read the full About page here. Whether you’re new here or curious about how it all began, welcome!
A New Path: Inclusive Collaborative Art with Children
After leaving the classroom, I went through a period of creative burnout — a surprisingly common experience for teachers. Eventually, I found myself creating again, in unexpected ways. It started at home, running parties for my kids. Each year I’d invent a wild, handmade “Pin the X on the X” to match their theme — from Pin the Eyes on Patrick to Pin the Dots on the Lego Block to Pin the horn on the Unicorn!
By then I knew every kid cheated — so I added a beanie to cover their eyes and gave everyone a lolly for playing. We ran the game during lunch, skipped the drama, and kept the mood light and fun. I’ve always believed that a party isn’t the place to learn that life isn’t fair — it’s a place for laughter, play, and everyone winning.
Rediscovering creativity through community
As my youngest was in her final preschool years, I stepped into a new role running our local school playgroup. It was a joyful mix of behaviour therapist insights, art teacher tools, and hands-on mumming. It brought my creativity back to life.
These sessions were heartfelt, noisy, and full of playful learning.
That’s when an opportunity popped up: I was invited to run a session at the holiday care program that shared the same space. I suggested a collaborative art activity — something the children could make together.
Inspired by the joyful Circle Paintings of Hiep Nguyen, I introduced a simple, colourful idea: overlapping painted circles on a shared canvas.
That was the day we created the Autumn Banner.
A strategy for inclusion
What surprised me most that day was how naturally the group worked together. Children of all ages and abilities joined in — painting side by side, layering circles, experimenting with colour, and proudly pointing out, “That one’s mine!” It was joyful. Inclusive. And most of all, it was fun.
One moment from that session still gives me goosebumps.
A young boy hovered at the edge of the room — quiet, reticent, unsure. He wasn’t ready to join in, and that was okay. I had a feeling he might need a different kind of invitation, so I brought out something I’d kept aside: a few plastic cups for stamping circles using their rims dipped in paint.
I said, “Check this out!” and stamped a few circles onto the paper. Then I held the cup out to him — and he took it.
Not only did he begin printing his own patterns, but the other kids noticed and were curious about his technique. I encouraged him to be the teacher, and just like that, he was in. He belonged.
It was a quiet, beautiful shift — one I still remember clearly.
Since that day, I’ve always kept a little “secret strategy” up my sleeve — a gold paint pen, a sparkly sticker, or even a pot of nail polish — to gently entice the hesitant or the differently wired child into the creative circle. It works. Every time.
After that moment — watching him come alive through art — I knew I wanted more of this. So I came back. Again and again.
Each school holidays, I created a new project — and it was always based on shared creativity.
The kids loved it. They knew it would be comparison-free, full of fun, and safe to just be creative.
You can see some of the special group art projects from this time here on this page.
As term-time OSHC (Out of School Hours Care) sessions followed, I noticed a system beginning to emerge. Not from theory — but from real life. From watching what worked, again and again.
We always began with Messy Playing to loosen up and get involved.
We used a limited colour scheme to avoid muddy colours and keep things cohesive.
We used just one size of brush — to prevent those “I want THAT one” dramas.
We added an Exploring stage about trying new skills: stencilling, collage, cutting, different media.
But at the heart of it all? Encouragement. Permission to play. And art that built creative confidence in every child – all though painting and creating socially as a group.
As I refined and expanded the process, I kept honing the best strategies — finding ways to make the sessions more efficient and effective in both time and cost. The kids came to each session full of energy, ideas, and growing trust in their own creativity.
Our school didn’t have a dedicated art teacher — the role had shifted toward digital technologies – so some children hadn’t touched paint in ages. Many primary teachers simply aren’t confident managing a full range of paint colours at once so they may seldom offer painting as an activity. If only they knew the secret: stick to one colour family plus white for any one lesson! It makes all the difference.
So these sessions really mattered.
And the best part?
That spark in their eyes when they stepped back and saw what they’d made.
The smiles of pride. The shared excitement.
That feeling of: “I did this — and it looks awesome.”
These moments became the foundation of my work.
They taught me what really matters: creating safe, welcoming art experiences where everyone can succeed, express themselves, and connect.
The artworks show what inclusive collaborative art can look like in real life: joyful, colourful, and full of personality. Each project is based on real sessions with children of different ages and abilities, where creative confidence is nurtured through play, shared process, and pattern-filled exploration. From painted elephants to spiral-maned lions, these artworks celebrate diversity, togetherness, and the power of participation.
This was the beginning of Pattern Play Collaborative Art — built for all ages, all abilities, and all kinds of wonderful brains.
Happy Painting!
Charndra,
Your Inclusive Social Art Guide
If this story lit a little creative spark in you, there’s so much more to discover:
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