The NUMI Art curriculum focuses on the development of the whole being through an alternative approach to exercises that foster self-awareness, sensitivity, tolerance, appreciation and interconnectedness. The classes have an underlying design around five themes: the Individual, the Family, the Community, the World (which includes nature and animals) and Art History, with a progressive introduction and deeper understanding of each theme as the child grows. Through a variety of medium including: drawing, painting, sculpture, found objects in nature, music, and movement, the aim of the NUMI curriculum is to encourage self-expression, respect and ways of visualizing new possibilities in the world. It helps foster a whole individual that explores themselves and the environment around them, tapping into their unique potential.

This NUMI developed curriculum is a Kindergarten through 6th grade program that centers on the arts, providing 30 weeks of teacher-led instruction with approximately two hours per week. It is your enthusiasm that will make this curriculum a successful experience for you and your students. Voice your support for our environment, our varied cultural heritage, and the contributions we can all give to make our world a sustainably healthy, global community.

The Numi Foundation is deeply grateful to the writers of open-source materials for their inspiration and contributions to this curriculum.

How to use the curriculum

We created the NUMI curriculum with flexibility in mind.  For after-school and extracurricular programs working with multiple ages of students, you might choose to download the entire K-6 curriculum and search for lessons by themes that you are working on.  For classroom teachers, you can download each grade-level independently and move through the entire curriculum which is designed with 2 related activities each week for the entire school year. 

Art Master K-6
Art Kindergarten
Art Grade 1
Art Grade 2
Art Grade 3
Art Grade 4
Art Grade 5
Art Grade 6