It was a difficult spring for youngsters in NYC, due to COVID-19 and related shelter-in-place guidelines and it looks like a difficult summer is approaching. However, a Queens agency is offering ways for children to play, create, and learn inside their homes.

ArtStrong is selling At Home Art Kits that promote activities such as abstract paintings on canvas, 3D dioramas with model magic characters, wacky cardboard self portraits, hanging fabric paintings, and plaster plant sculptures. They come with materials, an apron, a sketchbook, pre-recorded videos, step-by-step printed instructions, and bonus prompts.

The kits cost $99 each and are for sale on the ArtStrong website (www.artstrongnyc.com). To avoid shipping costs, they can be picked up on Saturday, June 13, between 10 am and 2 pm at Plaxall Gallery, 5-25 46th Ave., in Long Island City.

The website is also peddling the following items: Embroidery Kit ($25), colored yarn and string, a needle, burlap, paint, brush, and more; Rainbow Sensory Bin ($35), multi-colored rice, a plastic funnel, pompoms, paper cups, a scooper, plastic eggs, popsicle sticks, foam beads, cleaners, and more; Rainbow Peg Dolls ($12), 2.5-inch figurines hand-painted in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple; and Rainbow Playdoh Set ($22), which contains four-ounce plastic jars with screw-top lids in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

ArtStrong is rebounding from its own COVID-related setback. Owners Ashley Cavadas and Hannah Lokken were about to sign a lease for a community art center in Long Island City when the pandemic forced them to change their short-term plans. The friends, who had already founded and operated the summer program Art in the Park in Manhattan’s Riverside Park, were looking forward to offering enrichment classes and camp options, while also organizing parties and special events. (These plans are on hold.)

Last year, ArtStrong took top honors in the “Community” category in the Queens Economic Development Corporation’s StartUP! Business Plan Competition and received a $10,000 grant. StartUP! is an annual, eight-month challenge-and-instruction course that QEDC administers. Participants receive technical assistance and training on such topics as operations, marketing, and financial statements, while also enjoying access to Queens Public Library’s facilities and entrepreneurial resources. Then, they submit business plans to selected QEDC judges, who determine three victors in pre-determined categories.