Looking for fun ways to incorporate the arts in your new lesson plans? Check out smART breaks, an interactive social and emotional learning children’s video series by Hope Stone Inc.! Hope Stone, founded in 1997 by Jane Weiner, is a non-profit arts organization currently serving over 900 underserved Houston-area children and adults. They accomplish this with The Hope Project, its mindful healing and creative arts education outreach program.

In 2020, the organization’s 73+ weekly in-school music, theatre, dance, video arts, photography, spoken word, emotional intelligence and sewing/fashion design classes halted due to the pandemic. Working in partnership with Stages, we decided to create smART breaks! smART breaks is a free digital arts library of interactive music, theater and dance classes that teaches elementary school children social and emotional learning competencies. The video classes mimic much of our in-person classes within The Hope Project.

Each smART breaks episode has multiple viewing options (downloadable, Vimeo or YouTube) and is accompanied by two worksheets for parents or teachers to use with their students:

• A vocabulary list for creative activities
• A Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Guide with social and emotional learning competencies

When writing the scripts and storyboards for smART breaks episodes, the TEKS guides and social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies were used to influence the outline and story of each episode. The smART breaks teaching artists were given the noted outcomes for their episode, as well a list of vocabulary words that they were to incorporate and use for their episode lesson plan.

Hope Stone has built trust with its school partnerships. Principals, teachers and parents have witnessed the positive impact creative arts classes have on their students. Additionally, the students’ behavior, attendance, academic performance and test scores have improved by utilizing SEL and following TEKS guidelines, as well as incorporating emotional intelligence into students’ weekly schedules. The 37 participatory episodes are designed with an emphasis on the arts, social learning and self-regulation. They inspire children to think creatively and practice their social skills, ultimately supporting their academic success. We created these videos to help educators, parents and caregivers to blend arts education and mindfulness at home or in the classroom.

The online library separates the episodes into two age categories – pre-kindergarten through lower elementary and upper elementary – with specific grade/age recommendations for each video. Each episode is 20-25 minutes in length. The project was truly a team effort including two actors, 15 teaching artists, writers, a camera crew, a mascot (Pat, the purple fish), and the stage and set were built by Stages!

What does a smART breaks episode look like?

• Intro (5-7 minutes): Each episode is introduced by two longtime friends: Captain Hope, a pilot and adventurist, and Mr. Zo, a gardener and nursing student. Settled into their new home, they invite their teaching artist friends and neighbors over to teach engaging and fun classes.
• Warm-up (5-minutes): The friend visits, often entering through a fun “front door” (the storage trunk or refrigerator), and always bringing a nutritional fruit/vegetable as a gift to learn about briefly.
• Activity/Lesson (5-8 minutes): Children follow-along through the class.
• Final moments: Every episode ends with a review of the “Awesome Rules” and a fun song about being kind.

Through the creation of smART breaks, Hope Stone has continued to bring the transformative power of the arts into the lives of children, even amidst the challenges of the pandemic. Through leaning into the power of collaboration, the smART breaks video series offers a way to bring educational, entertaining and interactive art classes into any home, classroom or facility.