Art teacher's powerful class exercise reminding students to enjoy themselves is a lesson for all of us

Certain pieces of advice might make a big difference in a child's life, especially if it is ingrained in them early on. This advice can come from anywhere and cause a transformation in a person. An art teacher who also works to help people heal their inner child gave people really sound advice on painting and perfection that might help a person heal. The woman, Lania—who goes by @laniatheartist on TikTok—shared the video of her free art class at an elementary school on the platform.

Lania had decided to take a free art class at Brandeis Elementary School and seemed super excited to do it, the moment she got in her car. As she entered the school and checked in for her class, she greeted the kids with full enthusiasm. Also, she apologized for being late to the class. "How's everyone doing today?" she asked and the kids screamed, "Good" in response to the same. The art teacher instructed a class full of toddlers and their parents to "have fun" at the session before she began. "I volunteered to teach an art class at a local elementary school! Rule number 2!!! Gotta have fun!" she captioned the video. Lania asked her audience to stay tuned for the second part of the video, where she actually taught the class.

In the second video, Lania made the children repeat after her, "It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be done." She added, "Let's not be hard on ourselves along the way. Be gentle because life's hard enough. After all, this is just a painting." The art teacher told the children that there are greater things in life than that to be stressed about. "Painting is not one of them, baby." Lania showed them a bottle of orange juice and said, "We have got some orange juice." She expressed, "Let me tell you something, baby, it is very powerful to say something and then convince many other people to say the same thing," The teacher made the kids make some really funny noises to end it all.

Through the caption, Lania shared it is how she helped people's inner child heal. The video received nearly 5 million views and over 1 million likes. People on the platform appreciated the teacher's way of working with the kids. @bunnyhedaya wrote, "I saw a therapist say most people's first shame happens in art class and lasts a lifetime. This is beautiful." @caseyidk commented, "My autistic self needed this so badly as a kid. I loved art but couldn't get into it because of my need to be perfect."

@kitsunekay remarked, "Wish you were my art teacher as a kid because mine hated all of us like you could see the way her face would drop into anger the moment we entered her room." @shadow.nyx shared, "Me crying cause I had a chance to be an artist.. and now it’s gone. And I can’t find the artist in me cause the anxiety of not being able to do what my brain wants it’s too much." The teacher replied, "You could never lose the chance to be an artist, as an artist is a way of being, not a chance. You are who you are; you will create with confidence again—like I am."

You can follow Lania (@laniatheartist) on TikTok for more art-related and inspirational content.