From painting classes to music performances, we have twenty-five great suggestions for enjoying the arts with your family throughout Monterey County.
- Send your budding Picasso to a kid’s painting class at Progress Not Perfection in Pacific Grove. The three-hour drop off session is for children 6-12 years old and is offered several times a month.
- Do dinner with the Parenting Connection of Monterey’s Creative Tinkering class, offered Tuesday evenings, September 5th and 19th at 4pm. Part art, part engineering; this class will get your preschooler actively engaged in creating.
- Drop-in at the Art Factory in Aptos and partake in drawing, painting, and crafting. Classes are the last Friday of every month from 3:30-5:00 (ages 5 and up).
- Give your kid a camera and see what they see. If they get into it, check out the weekly Tech Kids Photoshop class (ages 5-12) or Video Editing Workshop (all ages) on Saturdays at the John Steinbeck Library in Salinas.
- Register your oh-so-dramatic child (ages 7 and up) to participate in ARIEL Theatrical’s presentation of Narnia. Rehearsals begin October 21 with public performances in December.
- Take the kids to My Museum and spend some time with hot glue guns and well-stocked bins of odds and ends creating and playing in their Creation Station. Local residents get in for only $2 on the first Tuesday of every month.
- Start their love of painting early. Roaring Mice Studio on Main Street in Salinas offers painting classes for the younger set (4-7 year olds) every Monday from 4:00 to 5:30.
- Learn to play the guitar. John Steinbeck Library in Salinas offers free guitar lessons on Saturdays.
- Find an excellent selection of kid’s books and CDs to give your tot or young child an introduction to classical music at Bookmark Music in Pacific Grove.
- Check out art galleries and listen to live music, coupled with a twilight family stroll every First Friday in Pacific Grove.
- Learn about “Color, Light and Form” by visiting the current exhibit of contemporary American paintings at the Monterey Museum of Art on Pacific Street.
- Enjoy theatre under the stars at a performance of Peter Pan, put on by Pac Rep Theatre. The show runs through September 24th.
- Impart your love of jazz and take the family to the 60th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, held from September 15-17 at the Monterey County Grounds.
- Watch a thought-provoking film on Monday night. The National Steinbeck Center and the National Endowment for the Art present the Big Read Film Festival going on throughout September and October. Movies are shown at Maya Cinemas in Salinas Mondays at 6pm are may not be suitable for younger audiences.
- Take your Tots to a sing-a-long with Marylee Sunseri, a well-known and beloved local musician. She performs at My Museum on Thursdays at 10am. The show is free with museum admission. Or catch her at a local library.
- Learn more about Salvador Dali, the famous Spaniard who lived on the Monterey Peninsula in the 1940s, at Dali17, a permanent exhibition located in downtown Monterey.
- Take your sketch pad and colored pencils and visit the Natural History Museum in Pacific Grove. Encourage your child to recreate the many gorgeous birds and butterflies they see on paper.
- Paint your own ceramic mug, plate, or decorative animal (and more) at Tenth Street Ceramics in Pacific Grove. Walk-in during the week, but the weekends are appointment only.
- Draw with Dante at the Harrison Memorial Library in Carmel. Kids 9-14 can explore and refine shading, tone, and contrast using graphite pencil. The class takes place on September 22. Call ahead to make a reservation.
- Take the Carmel Art Walk on the second Saturday evening of every month and explore a diverse sampling of locally created artworks and live music on a self-guided tour.
- Take tea or a guided tour at the Steinbeck House in Salinas and maybe your youngster will be inspired to write the next great American novel.
- Visit the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. As a bonus, you can get in free on First Fridays in downtown Santa Cruz and enjoy the extended hours, music, and an art project for all ages.
- Enjoy a good old-fashioned Hootenanny at the Pacific Grove Art Center. This community sing-a-long and open jam session is free to all and occurs bi-monthly.
- Attend the Thursday Art Market at the Tannery Art Center in Santa Cruz, a weekly evening market featuring food trucks, music, art demos, and kids’ classes.
- Head to the beach and build a sandcastle. Make it a lesson in multi-media sculpture with rocks, shells, and seaweed. Then compare your work of art to the contestants at the 57th Annual Sandcastle Contest on September 16 at Carmel Beach.