Introducing Your Child to the Arts: Your Child and the Visual Arts (continued)

Art museums are often the most challenging environments for young children. For young children, keep the gallery activities simple. Think about those that would engage your child:

• Read a children’s book that relates to your museum visit. Reading can take place at home or at the museum. Select a book that has a theme that relates to the art you plan to see. Some works of art actually have children’s books written about them.
• See several different artworks that relate to the same theme.
• Create a personalized tour for your child using postcards from the gift shop. (Purchase the postcards before you bring your child to the museum.) Your child can look at and talk about the postcards before the visit to the museum. Encourage your child to think about the artwork. Since the postcard doesn’t show the actual size of the artwork, it is fun for a child to guess whether the actual work is large or small. During the visit, finding the works of art will add an interesting dimension to the experience.
• Orient the museum visit in a different way each time you go. For example, plan a “shape” day and look for shapes in art. Each time your child spies a particular shape, let him or her pretend to draw the shape in the air. Look for shapes in your environment on the way home. Once you return, let your child make a drawing using different shapes or create a collage using cutout shapes.
• Ask your child to strike a pose similar to that of a figure in a sculpture.
• Encourage your child to use his or her imagination through storytelling or pretend play. For example, when looking at a painting of royalty, let your child pretend to be the king. Ask your child to wear a majestic robe and crown and make up a story about the king.
• Allow your child to pick a favorite art postcard from the gift shop following the museum visit. Buy two of the same card and help your child begin a collection. After several visits, the cards can be used for a matching game at home. Cards can also be used for storytelling games or for planning future museum visits. Returning to see old favorites at the museum is often fun for a child. When relatives visit from out of town, your child can plan the tour using favorite artworks.
• Encourage an older child to sketch with pencil and paper something interesting found in the art galleries.

Education and Special Programs in the Visual Arts

Schools, art centers, and museums offer a wide variety of special classes that relate to art appreciation. Look for programs that engage your child in age-appropriate experiences. For the young child, art appreciation should provide opportunities for art making as well as looking at art. The actual process of creating art gives a child a better understanding of an artist’s work. It is also important to remember that young children take in information through a variety of senses. Programs that respect the learning style of the young child are probably the best choices.

An Introduction to the Museum

• Miffy at the Museum by Dick Bruna
• You Can’t Take a Balloon Into The Metropolitan Museum by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser
• I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers In Art by Lucy Micklethwait
• Bonjour Mr. Satie by Tomie dePaola
• Museum ABC by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Mon petit Orsay by Marie Sellier
• Dogs’ Night in the Art Museum by Hooper & Curless
• The Shape Game by Anthony Browne

Family Guides to Museums

Many museums offer guides for parents and teachers that introduce visual arts to young children. Teachers and parents should ask their local art museum about similar publications.

• Museums & Learning: A Guide For Family Visits by the U.S. Department of Education and the Smithsonian Office of Education
• Family Guide by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
• Behind the Lions: A Family Guide to The Art Institute of Chicago
• Looking Together: Introducing Young Children to the Cleveland Museum of Art

Resources

Books for Children Introducing Arts and Arts Elements

My Name Is Georgia by Jeanette Winter
Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail by Laurence Anholt
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
Tout Le Monde Est En Formes by Ed Emberley