Children need a happy, safe and practical environment in which to work and learn. An environment that is engaging, special and inspirational. An environment in which they can excercise some sense of ownership over. They can contribute to the space. In teaching visual arts I think the environment the students learn in has to be creative and rich with different things to inspire creative work. This could include interesting objects such as shells, seedpods, things of different colour and texture as well as different examples of artists and their works.