Canvas Club, the kids’ creative crafting club that’s already running in 55 locations across the country, is fast becoming popular at schools too. 
Canvas Club has grown in leaps and bounds since the opening of their first club in Cape Town in March of 2018. There are now 40 clubs operating in 55 locations in South Africa, as well as two in Namibia and one in New Zealand, all following the same curricula and applying the same principles, methods and processes. 
What excites founders and owners Stefanie de Wet and Christelle Janse van Rensburg the most, however, is the growing demand to bring Canvas Clubs into schools.
“We knew it would be highly relevant to parents, and very popular with kids,” says Stefanie, “but we hadn’t anticipated the requests we would receive from parents and teachers alike to offer our classes as an after-school activity on school premises.”
Stefanie and Christelle believe the popularity of Canvas Club has to do with the educational approach to fun. 
“What makes Canvas Club different – and more than just an art class – is that we use processes and systems endorsed by occupational therapists,” says Stefanie.
At Canvas Club, each game or crafting activity is designed to introduce or develop important skills.
The age-appropriate activities cultivate conscious curiosity, stimulate independent thinking, problem solving and innovation, foster spatial awareness, hone fine motor skills and introduce STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills to children as young as 12 months.
Much more than simply “arts and crafts”, Canvas Club is quickly being recognised by parents as affordable OT-endorsed play – with purpose.
Christelle explains the process a parent or teacher can follow if they are interested in bringing Canvas Club to their school:
“When we are approached by a parent or teacher, we follow up by offering to do a demo class at the school,” she says.
“This inevitably demonstrates how captivated the children are while learning and honing important mental and physical skills, under the guise of fun! Once the school understands the concept, we can start planning a whole new world of learning for their kids.”
Canvas Clubs is already operating in 15 schools through various branches across the country, with many upcoming demos and plenty of queries coming in at a regular pace.
