This is the story of a large, airy studio nestled in a quiet corner of Chelsea. Shelves, boasting art supplies and musical instruments, line the perimeter. Large, boldly colored butterflies (painted by tiny fingers, of course) perk up the patrons passing through.
Welcome to Kids at Work. A vibrant, caring and structured environment in which kids up to four years in age can experience music and art at their own pace.
Founder, Owner, and Head Instructor Julie Averill—an accomplished musician who has performed with members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra—conceptualized Kids at Work while working as a preschool teacher for various play-based centers. “I felt like I could create something on my own that really focused on the children and the teachers,” Averill explains. “Not so much on the growth of the business or marketing.”
What began in 2007 as a once-a-week art class is now a thriving program with an eclectic array of offerings including the ever-popular “Sun Sessions,” a summer music class in Washington Square Park.
This past spring, Kids at Work moved to their new location in Chelsea in order to accommodate their burgeoning success. For Averill, designing the space was a labor of love. “My father-in-law did everything. My whole family came together and the only real professionals we had were the people who painted. Everything else was just
sweat and tears,” she gushes.
Averill purposely created an uncluttered, zen-inspired zone so as not to over-stimulate youngsters. “When toddlers come in and it’s quiet, I feel like they can be more decisive and just start working. It’s not sensory overload,” she explains.
Fine arts organizations such as Kids at Work are highly imperative to the creative development of young minds. “Music, especially for very young children and babies, is really the first thing that you can evaluate a baby’s response to,” say Averill. She feels strongly that children have an outlet for self-expression. “Even if parents aren’t going to send their kids to a program like mine, I think it’s important that they put the tarp on the kitchen floor and put out the finger paints. I remember my aunt doing that for me when I was a toddler. It’s a huge memory of mine.”
One of the ways in which Kids at Work stands out from the herd is with their flexible drop-in policy: once a parent registers their child for a package of classes they can come to those classes at any time during the semester. Averill chimes in, “I decided to try [the flexible drop-in policy] and see if I could make it work. I knew that nobody else did it. People have been really happy and I think they appreciate it.”
Kids at Work also teams up with a few local businesses. Averill collaborates with ABC Gym Kids for an open play program at their facility in the winter and a camp at Kids at Work during the summer. They also work with Taste Buds, a cooking school for little tykes.
In addition to its arts and music programming, the studio hosts birthday parties for toddlers. Parents can choose either a crafty or musical experience, or a combination of the two, and the rest is taken care of. Kids at Work provides the children with all the ingredients necessary for party pizzazz, including food, balloons and goodie bags.
Having mastered the fundamentals of kid-friendly arts & crafts and tunes, what does the future hold for Averill and her team? Coming fall, Kids at Work hopes to offer evening prenatal classes for expectant parents in Manhattan. “I think there’s a huge hole in New York City for prenatal programs that are not sponsored by doctors or hospitals,” Averill observes. They also plan to add more Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) classes, a parenting program that teaches adults how to develop autonomy and independence in children under two years of age. Currently, Kids at Work is one of just two places in NYC that offer this west coast-based vision.
During “Jam Sessions Babies,” a Tuesday afternoon class, nine-month-old Ruby sits on the soft blue rug clutching green and red shaker eggs. She concentrates intently on Averill’s grinning face as she shakes the sand-filled plastic ovals. Ruby wiggles to the sounds of a strumming guitar. And for a moment, it’s as if the well-lit room radiates back with a charm that’s almost tangible. Averill seamlessly feeds off of Ruby’s delight—for her, it’s all in a day’s work.
For more information on Kids at Work, visit kidsatworknyc.com.
