SELBYVILLE — Freeman Arts Pavilion’s latest initiative to ensure local students have access to arts experiences despite limited in-person opportunities will impact over 21,000 children.

Freeman Arts — a program of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, a fundraising arts nonprofit located in Selbyville — partners with schools on Delmarva to build a relevant, impactful arts education program through its Arts Access Initiative. Its most recent project, called creative nourishment kits, will fill the void of arts education programs, as teachers and parents continue to face the demands of remote and hybrid learning.

The nonprofit commissioned local artist John Donato to create step-by-step instructional worksheets for the innovative visual arts project. The kits are uniquely created for four grade-level clusters — K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 — and align with the curriculum by focusing on character building and the growth mind-set.

To date, 21,600 kits have been requested from four school districts in Sussex County. The first shipment of 4,300 kits was delivered to six schools in the Milford School District on Jan. 29.

The Milford School District has a tradition of embracing and celebrating the arts, said Trish Gerken, the district’s public information officer, adding that the kits provide an opportunity to continue to foster students’ creative energies.

“Our students often experience the arts while in school, and this program is a wonderful opportunity for us to use the arts to bridge our homes and schools together as we develop our first-ever online art gallery,” she said.

The district has developed a virtual space, called the “Blooming Buccaneer Art Gallery,” to exhibit student artwork and hopes to utilize the kits to build upon and expand the online space, Ms. Gerken said. As students complete their kits, they are encouraged to submit a photo to be displayed in the virtual gallery.

The kits — which consist of an instructional worksheet in both English and Spanish; art paper and construction paper; a set of markers; a glue stick; and string to display the artwork — are being assembled by Freeman Arts volunteers. Physical distancing and public health practices, such as wearing masks, frequent hand-washing and use of hand sanitizer, have allowed the team to work safely for over 300 hours to complete the kits for Milford.

In the coming weeks, Freeman Arts will package and deliver nearly 3,000 kits to the Seaford School District, followed by over 10,000 kits to Indian River School District and several thousand kits to Cape Henlopen School District.