Art is all around us, I’ve said this many times. It is a great exercise to talk to children about the art they see – that does not only mean visits to the gallery – but artwork for sale in shops, sculptures, street art, garden sculptures, art in people’s homes, art in books. A visit to the library art section is a fabulous treat to look at famous historical works up close and personal in a way you can’t do in real life!
Children will tend towards talking about the visual aspect of the artwork, but with a few leading questions you can elicit thinking about the aesthetics too – discuss colour combinations, the ‘feel’ of a painting, a style of brush work – is it realistic, is it painted with lots of dots, lines, swirls.
“Discussing paintings is probably the most helpful thing we can do with children other than giving them materials to paint with. Our more common failing is to demand little in understanding the arts, and to avoid discussion of them.” [Parsons, 1987]
There are plenty of fun ways to engage children with the art that they encounter around them, and I invite you all to download a free copy of my e-book ‘Creating a Whop-to-do Superific Gallery Experience’ by clicking the link.
Many galleries have fantastic art programs for visitors – but if your child is perhaps not interested in a structured experience make use of the free ‘art cart’ type activities that are short time investments and usually free or just wander around at your child’s pace and be guided by what interests them.
I always found our very best experiences were when I let my children do the leading and I simply followed along behind carrying art supplies and snacks.
Remember to be guided by your child, make it fun, and use as much imagination as possible.
Enjoy your artful discussions and they may just provide a spring board to creating or re-creating artworks together at home.