Archive for the ‘Fine Art’ Category

Going to the art museum, a local gallery or even an exhibit at a community college are all great ways to expose your child to fine art. Most have free days if they aren’t always free to visit. Here is a collection of fine art activities we have done here at No Time For Flash Cards.

Matisse Inspired Scrap Paper Collage (above)

Kandinsky Inspired Creation

Jackson Pollack Inspired Splatter!

DIY Great Wave off Kawagawa

Pointillism Lesson

Make Your Own Play Museum

Need some books about fine art too ? Check these out.

I love remaking masterpieces with my son. It gets him excited about art and gives him the confidence that he can do it too. We made our own version of The Great Wave Off Kawagawa a few months ago and he is still excited to go see the real one in person next month when it comes through town.  So teach them some art appreciation by doing not just looking!

1. Show your child the painting “Squares With Concentric Rings” by Wassilly Kandinsky. Ask them what they think he used to make the art. Ask them what they would use.
2. Gather your materials. You will need a variety of paper ( bare minimum 2 pieces), a wide variety of markers or water colors, scissors, and glue.
3. Start by cutting the paper into smaller squares. We did 2 rows of 3 ( so 6 squares total). The original has 3 rows of 4 , but that was too much for a 3 year old. Adjust to your child.
4. Start making circles! I didn’t really structure this other than saying to my son ” Can you make circles like the artist did?”
5. Keep going.  On his 5th his interest was dwindling, so I busted out a new color of marker and it did the trick. If it hadn’t I probably would have left the craft on the table and returned to it later.
6. Add glue- the top to ours fell off ( and covered me)  , oops but he still wanted to add more.
7. Add the squares and let dry.

Books

Babar’s Museum of Art by Laurent de Brunhoff is one of my favorite art books for kids. My son has recently decided he hates it because he doesn’t want to see the elephant versions of the art. All the art in the museum are masterpieces that you will recognize redone with elephants. He slams the page in the way only toddlers with a definite sense of justice can and says ” No elephant paintings Mama, real ones!” Trust me though this book is awesome and he loved it a few months ago. The story is about how Queen Celeste wants to change the abandoned railway station into a museum to house all their collected art . The museum itself looks just like the Musee D’Orsay in Paris and the story also explains art for children.

Museum 123 by The Metropolitan Museum Of Art is another simple but beautiful counting book.  What I love about this book is that the number is not on the same page as the onbjects/images the child is being asked to count. Instead a simple question of how many is followed by a painting with the objects, and the next page has a large number. My son loved counting then flipping the page exclaiming ” I knew it , I said that number I was right!” My only complaint is that it only went to 10!

SQUEAKING OF ART, The Mice Go to the Museum by Monica Wellington is a fun book to read before and even more fun to read after a visit to a museum. This book follows a group of mice that all explore the museum, and the art on it’s walls. Each page is a different theme and the text is a dialogue between the mice and their Cat guide about the art displayed. The art itself are the author illustrator’s versions of art you will probably recognize. There are multiple paintings on each page and if you are like me and like to quiz yourself on your ability to name the painting and artist this book is for you. There is a guide at the end of the book for every page. I think I like this book even more than my son for that reason. My son likes it because he can recognize some paintings, but thy are redone in bright vibrant colors and have a more cartoon look, which I think appeals to my son even more than the originals. When we “read” this book we often skip the text and simple look and explore the art.  No matter how you read it this is a fine addition to any library for those who love fine art.

If you watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics you saw Sarah McLaughlin singing among tall painted trees. They were a homage to West coast painter Emily Carr , a personal favorite and not as well known outside of Canada. I have been waiting to do a fine art reproduction craft since it has been a while and this was the perfect link to recent events ! No matter if your child saw the ceremonies or not trees are something they can relate to.

1. Gather your materials. This project although has a set end result we focused on all different ways to paint, so we are using multiple tools. You will need some coffee filters, brown or white paper, blue paper, glue, scissors, a roller, a glass sponge, an eye dropper, some blue, green and brown paint as well as some green food coloring.
2. Start by showing your child pictures of Emily Carr’s work online, in books or if you are lucky enough to have a real one near by at a museum. Talk about the trees, the colors and ask what they like and don’t like.
3. Start by painting the trunks. We used a foam roller. My son pretended he was a steam roller and did this for a long long time!
4. Next hand them the sky, we used blue paper but white or pale green would both work perfectly. I put green and blue paint in a dish for him to use with the glass sponge. If you follow me on twitter you may have seen my tweet saying my son announced he was Jackson Pollack as he splattered the paint- this was when he said that!
5. Time for green food dye! Using an eye dropper suck up the food dye, and drop on the coffee filters. Have wet wipes on hand, my fingers are still green .
6. Let everything dry.
7. Cut out the trunks
8. Cut the filters into tree tops. I did this step for my son because his cutting skills aren’t yet developed enough . If your child is able invite them to do it, I did ask him if he wanted spiky trees or rounded trees!
9. Time to glue. Add three long lines. I added the first and then he did the rest.
10. Add your trunks.
11. Add glue for the tree tops
12. Add the tree tops and let dry.

Books

Pablo’s Tree by Pat Mora is a great book. The author has successfully integrated so many wonderful things into one still entertaining and engaging book. The story is about Pablo who is excited to go to his grandfather’s house to celebrate his birthday. See his Lito ( grandfather) has a wonderful tradition of decorating his tree every year to celebrate Pablo’s birthday. The book explains that this started before Pablo was even born, when his mom told her father that she would be adopting a baby. I love that this book is about a multi generation family, includes adoption without it being the only subject in the book, and it’s multi lingual text ( Spanish and English) . It’s a gem, oh and my son loved it too!

A Pocket Full of Kisses by Audrey Penn is another book in her Kissing Hand series. Chester is not so happy about having a little brother and suggests that he gives him back! I love that jealousy doesn’t stem over toys or material things but rather over Mama giving his little brother a kissing hand too.  My mom has always called me sunshine and I will grudgingly admit that I do not like it when someone else earns this name, it’s an instinctual reaction and I am in my 30s! When Chester raccoon bursts into tears kids and adults a like can relate to it. Mam raccoon handles it beautifully and Chester understands that no matter how much love a mama has for one child it doesn’t take any way from others. This book was a great vehicle for discussion about our upcomming arrival and I urge other parents dealing with a new sibling or jealousy to check it out.

A Tree for Emmy by Mary Ann Rodman was a huge hit with my son who took a real liking to Emmy the “stubborn and a little bit wild ” main character of this book. She loves the Mimosa tree in her grandma’s yard and decides more than anything she wants her own for her birthday. Unfortunately they are wild and no nursery carries them. She is distraught and arguably a little bratty when disappointed but as luck would have it when she visits her grandma again she notices a shoot growing! I like how independent Emmy is , and must admit to taking great pleasure in my son noticing Emmy’s baby sister in a sling in one illustration! Very cute book!

You may also like :

Inspired by Jackson Pollack and A Trip to The Museum
Inspired by Matisse – Cool Collage
Inspired by Hokusai – Great Wave!

I am passionate about art, and I beleive that if our kids can tell Dora from Diego they can tell Picasso from Matisse.  So even if like me you are in a small town without easy access to masterpieces you can share it  with your children through books.

Celebrity Cat: With Paintings from Art Galleries Around the World by Meredith Hooper is a unique look at some of the greatest masterpieces through the eyes of cats. It’s Cat visiting night at the museum and the cats are quick to notice that there aren’t many of their kind in these wonderful paintings. So one cat takes it upon herself to add them in . I love this book because not only does it expose the young readers to some fantastic paintings like The Mona Lisa, and Van Gogh’s Chair, it also has a wonderful message. See after the cats are included even though the world of cats love these new paintings soon they discover that they don’t need to be in those paintings they need to make their own! Creative and cute story that integrates the art seamlessly!

Museum Tripby Barbara Lehman is fantastic.  This wordless book has a clear strong message – that if exposed children can loose themselves in art, it opens a new world with new adventures before unseen! The story opens with a little boy on a school field trip to a museum, he looses his group , and soon finds himself in the art. After completing many mazes he is given a medal before he rejoins his group. My favorite part is as he is getting on the bus with his class he is wearing his medal and so is the museum curator.  Love it!

Hugo and Miles In I’ve Painted Everything by Scott Magoon is going on my Christmas list. I have renewed this book for months from my local library. I finally have to return this book and I just don’t want to! The book is all about Hugo a painter who has painter’s block. He goes to Paris with his best friend Miles for inspiration, and among the sites, the masterpieces and thanks to the Eiffel tower he finds it! I love this book and my son just eats it up. He wants to go to Paris to the “Moosay Dor-see” to see Van Gogh and climb the Eiffel tower thanks to Hugo!

Katie Meets The Impressionists by James Mayhew is a art fairytale! Katie goes to the museum with her grandmother and before she knows it she is in the paintings and the world of the painters and their families.  Katie goes from painting to painting gathering flowers for her grandma and exploring a world on the other side of the canvas.  What I enjoy about this book is that it brings the paintings to life for readers and it shares the  back story in a way that children can connect to and imagine the possibilities when they go to museums! Of all these books this one held my son’s attention the least. I like to think it’s because he’s not a fan of impressionism, but I think it was simply a little long for his not quite 3 year old attention span.  Maybe if Renoir had painted garbage trucks… seriously though this is a fabulous book and worth a read!

SQUEAKING OF ART, The Mice Go to the Museum by Monica Wellington is a fun book to read before and even more fun to read after a visit to a museum. This book follows a group of mice that all explore the museum, and the art on it’s walls. Each page is a different theme and the text is a dialogue between the mice and their Cat guide about the art displayed. The art itself are the author illustrator’s versions of art you will probably recognize. There are multiple paintings on each page and if you are like me and like to quiz yourself on your ability to name the painting and artist this book is for you. There is a guide at the end of the book for every page. I think I like this book even more than my son for that reason. My son likes it because he can recognize some paintings, but thy are redone in bright vibrant colors and have a more cartoon look, which I think appeals to my son even more than the originals. When we “read” this book we often skip the text and simple look and explore the art.  No matter how you read it this is a fine addition to any library for those who love fine art.