One of the art world’s most controversial figures is going back to school. According to the New York Daily News, an elementary school in Sunnyside, Queens is now offering an extracurricular art class for children based on the oeuvre of Jeff Koons. Say what you will about him (see “Jeff Koons as the Art World’s Great White Hope“), but from Play-Doh to balloon dogs, there’s no arguing that his work is the perfect inspiration for budding artists.

So far, the students have worked to assemble painted reproductions of the famed balloon dogs and crafted foil replicas of the Jim Beam J.B. Turner Train. In addition to building homages to the artist’s multi-million dollar masterworks, the class will travel to the Whitney Museum to see the much-discussed Koons retrospective, though we imagine they might steer clear of the area dedicated to the raunchy “Made In Heaven” works.

Many of the children in the class, who are between three and seven years old, count Koons among their favorite artists, with only the late children’s book illustrator Leo Lionni ranking higher on their hot list than the contemporary art star. Clearly, this is an unusually cultured group of toddlers, but it also clears up any lingering doubts about the artist’s status as a household name.

For interested parents, the “Let’s Explore! Music and Art” enrichment class is $35 per session (a major bargain when you consider the cost of a Koons original—see “How Many Millions Does the Koons Retrospective Add Up to?“), and is held at the All Saints Episcopal Church on 46th Street on Tuesdays and Thursdays.