Meet Sam, our Maker in Residence a permaculture educator,  industry expert, seasoned horticulturist, smoothie chef and community enthusiast. Experienced in a broad range of topics, from the fundamentals of hydroponics to advanced techniques in plant nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Get to know him, here. 

He is on a mission to bridge the gap between theory and practice on growing our own food. 

Guiding our learners in the garden lab to immerse themselves in practical exercises, designing and building their hydroponic setups. Our commitment to experiential learning means teaming up with amazing educators offering new insights and approaches to the science learning journey via project based lessons. 

Learn more about the Garden Lab. 

Join us for an extraordinary art exhibition that combines the creativity of BIPOC youth with the urgent message of environmental consciousness. 

Inviting the South Florida community to celebrate the work of teen environmental artists, final Sea the Reef Art Show and experience a series of fun activities on World Oceans Day.

Be part of a live art-advocacy project put on by our students and the unveiling of their "Reef Play House". Students and families are encouraged to attend, meet our environmental teen artists, learn about their creative journey and enjoy a morning of our activities.

Our innovative art show is set to captivate audiences with its inspiring and thought-provoking "Reef Playhouse" pushing the boundaries of both art and activism. 

OPEN TO All AGES & FAMILIES. ALL ABILITIES WELCOMED

Schedule of Events

SEA THE REEF ON WORLD OCEANS DAY

9:00AM - 10:30AM Community Coral Sculpting Workshop: A coral sculpting session with earth clay led by our environmental teen artists and Lele Art Lab

10:30AM: Coral Site Aerial Drone Photography: Join us for a remarkable event that will celebrate the importance of coral conservation and create a breathtaking aerial drone image that will leave a lasting impact. We will be capturing the magic of our community made - coral reef site from above. You'll have the opportunity to marvel at the collective beauty we've created together and take home your 3D coral sculptures.

11:00AM: "Sea the Reef" Art Installation: Unveiling of the "reef play house" made and assembled by our environmental teen artists to celebrate coral conservation. Our coral sites are vital ecosystems, supporting a diverse array of marine life and playing a crucial role in maintaining the health of our oceans. The interactive play house invites you to "SEA THE REEF"

Join us for a powerful art experience that captivates all ages and teaches environmental conservation and sustainability.

A Lele Art Lab Public Art Program, "Sea the Reef: Teen Artists for Oceans,” is a youth arts enrichment initiative which brings the wonders of ocean science and environmental arts to underserved teenagers and families across Miami-Dade and Broward County. 

Our goal is to make these enriching experiences easily accessible, fostering a deeper connection to coastal blue spaces while nurturing the artistic talents of our youth.

Additionally, we are proud to offer career-connected mentorship, providing invaluable guidance from professionals in both the arts and environmental science fields, ensuring that teens gain not only artistic skills but also a clear path to potential future STEM careers. 

A science identity through the arts

Students create purpose-driven, environmental, public, educational artworks to inspire both peers and community to engage in better care of the blue planet.

Click below to start exploring our program’s unique story. 

Thanks to 4PT Tiny Fellowship we were able to take our pop up art lab on the road! Learners became young artists, developed as positive change-makers, and found their personal connection to the blue planet.

We could not have done it without the support of the 4PT community. Thank you to all the educators who shared their learning spaces with us! 

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Mobile Push Powered Art Lab

△ pop out tables, custom handle bar made out of wood
△ counter flip top and easy to roll

A mobile street art cart designed to be a traveling art lab. Created from scratch and up-cycled parts. It’s push-powered, earth friendly and with plenty of storage. Most importantly made with zero plastic. It has two built-in collapsible tables and an open countertop for storage. 

We reached out to our beloved community and magic happened. Check out our creative adventures, pilot video.

Special thank you to my coach, Alex. Leading an amazing learning center for the DC community. In conjunction, to the awesome insights offered by Justin, who introduced the logic model template, that furthered my vision. 

I'm happy to now be a 4.0 alum and join their community of nearly 2,000+ alumni. I'm excited about what's next. 

 Thank you to all the educators who shared their learning spaces with us! 

Hi! Bienvenido! I'm happy you are here. I'm a National Geographic Certified Educator, mom to a kid explorer, and creative at the intersection of art and environmental education.

Lele Art Lab started with my life as parent. It was observing the creative and colorful outcomes from my everyday life, immersed in child like imagination and watching my son's curiosity grow. Rooted in exploring the environment and finding out ways that would encourage that spark in him and other young minds. 

Navigating the world of young learners is never straightforward; education often happens on a screen or behind four walls. I envisioned something different—a studio, more akin to a lab—where science meant to come alive, art was the toorl and making engaged the minds. Here, we go beyond to advocate for and raise awareness about the environment. 

The starting point a push powered, earth - friendly art cart. Yes, made from scratch and all sustainable parts. Once built it brought upon infinite possibilities.

The focus: art as a language of exploration. The result, a space where science learning transforms into environmental action. A unique way to have art meet science - and where learners of all abilities get to build, tinker, and explore with a purpose.

We utilize simple tools: upcycled parts, found objects, and everyday items like cardboard boxes, newspaper, and fabric scraps to convey narratives that promote environmental stewardship and community well-being.

I enjoy volunteering for local environmental projects and often take the opportunity to be outdoors. 

Ever seen those cool-looking rainbow clouds? If you live in South Florida, you probably have. The crystal like colors beaming from behind the puffy white clouds is incredible. It's like watching cotton candy hues spread across the sky. 

I recently learned it is called, cloud iridescence. According to NOAA colors come through the layers of thin clouds and since they are charged with water droplets, the sun's ray give it that rainbow color.

We hope to learn more about the science behind it, but for now we wanted to recreate it with watercolor magic. Give it a try, you will be surprised by how much your little one will enjoy it!

Colorful Cloud Art

Time: 20 minutes Ages: Toddlers + Difficulty: Easy 

Supply List

• Mat Board (best to work with cardstock)
• Water Colors (using food coloring can do the trick)
• Paint brush
• Small piece of a tree branch/stick
• Glue
• Eye Dropper
• Stick
• Cotton balls
• Twine ( we used twisted rope found from our beach clean up work)

Step 1:

Set up a couple of jars with different water colors. Can always choose the intensity of the color you want by adding couple more drops. Place the eye dropper close by and have child practice using it.

Step 2:

Bring out the cotton balls and glue. Start to glue the cotton balls to the mat board. Have child take the eye dropper, select a color and ask them to color each of the cotton balls, drop by drop. Definitely a great fine motor skills activity. 

Step 3:

Set aside the board with the cotton balls and begin to paint your stick. Remember to add a couple of coats, that helps for the color to be brighter. Use temperas or acrylics, either one is fine. 

Step 4:

Cut out the cloud form, punch a hole through the top and run twine through it and tie it to the colorful branch. 

It's the perfect cloud to hang on your door.

PROMPTS TO HELP YOU FURTHER ENGAGE IN THE ACTIVITY:

• Tell me about your cloud. What makes it so special?
• I can't wait for it to rain and have a look at the clouds.
• What colors did you use? Can you find these same colors in nature?

Please tag me in your creations on Instagram and FB and use the hashtag #EXPLORERARTLAB to spread the word. We hope you enjoy this activity and thank you for being part of our community to grow "Everyday Creative Explorers". 

When Save the Manatee Club put out a call for manatee inspired art, I knew we had to participate. What made it an even better challenge was the fact the materials had to be "found objects." 

There was not much planning involved as far as materials since all we had to do was sort through the plastic we had picked up on our beach walk. We then prep it. Washed, scrubbed and rinsed.

Our little artist was excited to search through the many bottle caps to find the right one to use. I figured from all the random pieces we had, some sort of theme would come up. The best hidden piece from our two pound trash bag was a piece of standard barricade tape. It was long enough to read the letters CAU, short for the word "CAUTION." 

Here is our piece, we were super excited when we got done and we placed 2nd in the overall contest! 

We hope this will be the start of many more marine debris projects. Hopefully, you can find ways to get creative with recycled goods. Sharing couple of shots from our project below, thanks for reading!

Setting out our pieces, construction paper, rough outline, and a good amount of glue.

Always a plus when you let kids discover. They often gravitate to colors they themselves recognize in nature.

Marine Debris from North Ocean Park, FL.

You'd be surprised by the #processart fun that comes from #upcycling.

 Learn more about The Save the Manatee Club  

There is no better time to engage and inspire ocean advocates than childhood. Start out by creating under the sea sensory bin. It's an easy set up, recreating sea foam and having young ones search for shells and more.

Ocean Sensory Bin 

Supplies

• Long container (any size will do)
• Shells – we collected our from the beach
• A scoop, tea strainers and sponge 
• Shaving cream
• Liquid water color (food coloring works as well)

Add sand, water beads, and other ocean-themed objects. We kept it simple and used what we found at the beach. 

Through the use of seashells, plant life, and ocean animals, children can learn to identify ocean life as well as engage in dramatic play.

• What did you find in the ocean?

• What different things can we find in the ocean?

• What is your favorite part of going to the beach?

Please tag me in your creations on Instagram and FB and use the hashtag #EXPLORERARTLAB to spread the word. We hope you enjoy this activity and thank you for being part of our community to grow "Everyday Creative Explorers". 

South Florida is best seen in a canoe. There is something about gliding through the water that is calming for my little one and myself. We love canoeing and thought we’d make a magic canoe for our storytelling afternoons.

Check out this canoe invitation to create a process art experience that is a quick project with endless learning magic.

Canoe Art Project

Time: 20 minutes Ages: Toddlers + Difficulty: Easy 

Supply List

• Large Cardboard
• Paint (Temperas)
• Container to mix paint
• Twine
• Scissor
• Seashell charms *We used sea sponges

Step 1: Prep Cardboard

Cut out your cardboard canoe. Taking a pencil to sketch it can help guide when cutting.

Step 2: Mix Colors

My son picked out the colors for this project. Toddlers love decision making and my little one was happy to call out his favorite colors. We used blue, yellow and different shades of green.

Use any recycled containers to hold the paint. We used an egg carton and allowed for us to mix the colors right on it.

Step 2: Sea life charms

Start to paint your canoe, we used different size brushes to learn about strokes. You’ll see after a bit you’ll have a favorite go to brush. It’s rather enjoyable to see the paint soak in and colors come to life. Put on the finishing touches with some sea charms.

We had a choice between seashells or sea sponges. (We only have 3 of anything from nature. Meant for our projects, discovery closet or pretend play).

• Tell me what did you use to make your canoe?

• Will you go in the ocean with it?

• I can’t wait to learn about the island you will travel to!

Please tag me in your creations on Instagram and FB and use the hashtag #EXPLORERARTLAB to spread the word. We hope you enjoy this activity and thank you for being part of our community to grow "Everyday Creative Explorers". 

There is no better way to investigate natural materials than to go on a nature walk and end your trip with a fun nature based art project.

Here are steps on how to put together your first nature sensory bottle. Also the perfect project for little learners to explore the world around them.

Nature Inspired Sensory Bottle

Time: 20 minutes Ages: Toddlers + Difficulty: Easy 

• Glass bottle with lid (Can also use plastic, but we opted for glass for better transparency.)
• Water
• Glue

Kids love hands-on nature time and collecting treasures.

Peel the label off the bottle, rinse well and clean the outer surface. 

Go on your nature walk and add the natural specimen found by your little one. Filled the bottle with tap water, and seal it. (Can use glue or tape.) Isn’t it awesome how the bottle magnifies the specimen inside?

In this activity, kids learn how to:

• New discoveries about the natural world. 
• Learn about native plants and seasons.

Please tag me in your creations on Instagram and FB and use the hashtag #EXPLORERARTLAB to spread the word. We hope you enjoy this activity and thank you for being part of our community to grow "Everyday Creative Explorers". 

Clay working is such an incredibly fun art experience for kids. Plus, the end product is always a cool sculpture piece for your living room.

Here is a very simple activity that can be done with just a few supplies and fit for the attention span of any preschooler. Also the perfect activity to help kids develop fine motor skills, finger strength, and creative expression.

Sculpture Art Project

Time: 20 minutes Ages: Toddlers + Difficulty: Easy 

Supply List

• Modeling Clay Dough

• Styrofoam (save those from delivery packages)

• Tempera Paints + Brown Paper Bag

• Paintbrushes

• Wooden Skewers

Step 1: Prepping board with some paint

Set up the area with couple paint brushes, block of styrofoam, wooden skewers, modeling clay and paint. Paint the styrofoam board while discussing project. We used tempera paint, just enough to get our inspiration going.

Step 2: Squish, squeeze, shape, and sculpt inspired by imagination!

Select a couple of wooden skewers, have child pick one and carefully place onto the styrofoam. They love the feeling of the pointy end moving through the board. All set for the fun to begin. 

Step 3: Sculpture Art

My almost three year old son was totally wrapped into this activity. He loved punching the holes, rolling the clay and the mushy feeling of clay between his hands. Placing the wooden skewers onto the foam board helps for stability and gets them to work vertically. Offering a new perspective.

Watch them play and grow their imagination.

In this activity, kids learn how to:

• Develop fine motor skills, color recognition and creative expression.
• Shape clay into different shapes and if they need a little nudge, explain how vines naturally grow on tress. This will get them to naturally work upwards.  

These are the coolest art sculptures!

Please tag me in your creations on Instagram and FB and use the hashtag #EXPLORERARTLAB to spread the word. We hope you enjoy this activity and thank you for being part of our community to grow "Everyday Creative Explorers".