Teach Art At Home Like an Artist!
Let’s celebrate Vincent van Gogh’s birthday. He was born on March 30, 1853.
The following video is fun to watch.
The van Gogh Museum offers a variety of fun activities. These will be a great to end a homeschool day or include in an art study.
Take the learning a bit further with the Sunflowers Art Project.
When I taught homeschool art, the first rule I gave my students is, “You’ve got to have fun!” Art Fun
I mean that.
If art class is not fun, there’s really no point in having it. Art is about expressing yourself. It’s about exploring your creativity.
But it’s also about joy.
So how can you make art class fun? Here are five suggestions:
I know this seems counterintuitive, but one of the main reasons children become frustrated with art is that they have an unrealistic expectation of what they should be able to do. In other words, there is a tendency toward perfectionism. Make sure your children know that it’s okay to not be perfect.
When your children bring you a picture that they’ve drawn (and that they’re obviously very proud of), don’t single out the one (or more) little things that are wrong and need to be corrected. That’s one of the quickest ways to insure that their love of art class will be short-lived. Instead, find something to praise about the picture.
Try finger painting or other abstract art. Not all artwork needs to be representational. Sometimes it’s fun to just play with colors and see what happens.
Grab a sketchbook and some colored pencils (or crayons). Then go outside and find something to draw. Let your children choose the subject.
Buy a black light, fluorescent tempera paints (or See the Light’s fluorescent pastels) and black poster board. Then darken the room, turn out the lights and do some “glow in the dark” posters.
In other words, don’t always feel like you’ve got to color inside the lines. Art is about self-expression. So have fun!
Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment with YOUR idea for making art class the best part of your child’s day.
by Angie McFarren
Finding what works for them is the key. Art in high school tends to become more academic and not as much fun for some students. In Kids Can Learn about Art and Have Fun Doing It, Part 3, you will find helpful ideas, resources, and curriculum options to make art engaging for the reluctant artist at the high school level.
If you have not read part one or two of this series, I encourage you to do so before continuing with this post.
Another Reason for Teaching Art
Students who study art throughout high school have higher SAT scores.
The College Board reports students who take art classes throughout high school have higher verbal and math scores on the SAT. Higher SAT scores opens doors for college acceptance and scholarships.
Interactive Games
Locating interactive art games for high school was a bit more challenging. The only one I could find was by Artsology.
Free Arts Games for Kids (of all ages) by Artsology
Trivia Games
Do you have children who love trivia? If so, have them check out the two below.
Useful Trivia – Art
Art Contests
Entering an art contest may be a stretch for the hesitant artist. But it is worth a try. 😊 Below are two options.
Virtual Field Trips
Attending field trips as a high school student does not happen too often. The students tend to have significant more schoolwork to complete. So, I looked for virtual field trips like these:
Explore Different Types of Art
The key to exploring different types of art is finding what your children like (or remotely like.) Learning about stained glass or pottery might work. See the Light’s Tiffany Window Art Project contains a paper version of a stained-glass art project.
Blender is a free downloadable software program. People can create all sorts of fun 3-D projects.
YouTube
There are a lot of YouTube videos made by art teachers and students. I found a good many of them to be long and boring. You definitely will not want your children who don’t like art to watch those. I found the videos about Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat to be worth watching.
Apps
The apps I mentioned in part two of this series are also appropriate for high school. Below are a couple more apps to try.
Adobe Photoshop Sketch — expressive painting and sketching with realistic tools by Adobe
Notebooking
The lapbooking method of learning I mentioned in part two of this series may not appeal to high school students since cutting and pasting is involved. However, notebooking might work. It’s worth a try since it is different than taking regular type of notes.
Use Art Curriculum That Does the Teaching for You
See the Light’s Art Projects is ideal for high school fine arts credit. Most states require high school students to have a fine arts course lasting one or two semesters. The disinclined student will see that time as torture. So, how about making it as enjoyable as possible?
See the Light’s Art Projects curriculum will provide up to a school-years’ worth of art credit. Your children will learn about nine famous artists and complete projects using the artists’ styles of painting. You may purchase the DVDs separately or as a boxed set.
Here is a video introducing the Art Projects:
Pat Knepley gives more information about using See the Light as a fine arts course in the video below.
Let us know how we may help you. Our goal is to provide moms with homeschool art lessons taught by Master Artists.
Bonus Art Project for High School Students
Jim will be using lecturer’s chalk while showing your student how to draw a waterfall.
Discover why others are excited over these free lessons from the Art Class.
by Angie McFarren
Alas, the middle school years. The time when children become teens, experience physical changes, and develop significant attitude shifts. Everything becomes a big deal. Those who dislike art can treat it as if it is a death sentence. Moms must dig deep to find ways for their children to participate in art activities without causing their children to have dramatic outbursts. Today’s post, Kids Can Learn about Art and Have Fun Doing It, Part 2, will help by giving you additional reasons for teaching art, more ideas and resources, and a different way of teaching art.
If you have not read Part 1, I encourage you to do so before continuing with this post.
More Reasons for Teaching Art
Art boosts students’ confidence as they see their progress in their artistic ability. They learn small differences make a big impact in their artwork.
Students often become more expressive, which carries over into other subjects such as language arts.
Interactive Games
In part 1 of this series, I gave you a long list of interactive games for youngsters. Here is a different list of online games more suitable for middle school students.
Arts Games for Kids (of all ages) by Artsology
Knowitall – storyboard
Resources for Studying Art
Garden of Praise has numerous art resources.
Here is an opportunity to learn about art (and work on research skills) with an Internet scavenger hunt. The Renaissance Art Scavenger Hunt
Sometimes students need to watch videos to understand art concepts, such as How to Look at Art – The Elements of Art Part 1.
Take a tour inside a painting with Claude Monet, 3-D Animation – Luca Agnani Studio.
Music playing in the background while viewing pieces of art is more engaging for some than just looking at pictures in a book. The YouTube video on The Art of Claude Monet in Motion is one example.
The video, Georgia O’Keeffe: A Brief History, is a good introduction to a study of the artist and her work.
Art History School on YouTube
Art Authority K-12 for iPad app
ArtRage app
Display their Artwork.
Do your children participate in 4-H? If so, see if you can coerce them to enter their best artwork for one of their projects. The experience of having others see their artwork displayed will be a confidence booster.
The image above is my daughter’s project she entered in the fine arts category. She used the Art Project: Sunflowers from See the Light Art. She received an honor ribbon at our county fair.
You might also want to frame your child’s best artwork and hang it on the wall for all to see.
Field Trips
Attending field trips in Jr. High may not be as much fun as it once was. You might even have to drag your reluctant child to an art museum. Still, it is a good experience to see famous artwork in person. Some museums offer student/kids activities. You may want to see what is offered at your local museum before visiting.
Lapbooking
Sometimes changing the method of learning can make a big difference in children’s attitudes. Hopefully, for the better. If you have not tried lapbooking, you might want to give it a try for learning about artists.
Study Any Great Painter from In the Hands of a Child
The Artists Activity-Pak from Homeschool in the Woods is another fun project using the lapbooking method.
Use Art Curriculum That Does the Teaching for You
In the previous post, I mentioned the Art Class DVDs from See the Light Art. The Art Class set contains 9 DVDs and will provide you with a school year’s-worth of lessons. I looked at some community art classes in my area when I was homeschooling. Classes lasting 4 to 8 weeks cost between $125 to $200. Some art classes taught in co-ops can be quite expensive as well. The Art Class boxed set from See the Light Art costs only $99.99 and is much more economical.
The DVDs start out teaching the basic skills and become more advanced in the latter DVDs.
Here are the topics covered in each DVD:
Bonus: Art Project for Middle Schoolers
Discover why others are excited over these free lessons from the Art Class.
by Angie McFarren
Mom was so excited. She had the finger paints and paper ready; the table had a plastic covering on it; her child had on his painting shirt; and she had her camera ready. Mom encouraged her son to place his hands in the paint and begin creating a masterpiece. Then it happened. He looked at his wet hands in repulsion. Mom’s heart sank. Thankfully, she made a wise decision. She did not force her son to continue. Instead, she went on a hunt to find an art project he would enjoy.
Some kids are just born to draw and paint. Then there are other kids that loath anything art-related. Take heart there are ways to ease the reluctant child into finding something to like about art.
In this 3-part series, you will learn reasons for teaching your kids art; find links to fun activities; receive additional ideas for learning art; discover which art curriculum I believe is the best for elementary students.
Reasons for Teaching Art
Interactive Games
Educational games allow learning to take place while having fun playing them. Below is a list of websites that you might find helpful in introducing your children to art in a fun way. Note: I have viewed most portions of the content on the following websites. As you know websites change daily. Please contact me if you find any objectionable material on these websites.
Free Arts Games for Kids (of all ages) by Artsology
Art Books
There are many interesting art books of different types available for children. Below are just a few I have selected. Even though the age range is shown, you may want to browse the content of the books before showing them to your children.
Field Trips
Field trips are usually a hit with many children. Going to an art museum might be a stretch for some. I will share more on this subject in a later post.
Art Apps
There are many apps available for download onto iPads. Kids love them and will spend hours playing the games. Turn that fascination into something creative.
Jim has written a series of blog posts on digital art. You may want to begin reading Top 3 Digital Art Apps for Homeschoolers.
Coloring pages
The Supercoloring website has numerous coloring pages of famous artists and paintings for you to download for free. The pages allow children to not only color but to learn about the master artists and their works.
Work on Art with Friends
Having an art class (whether it is a co-op or at home) with other kids makes it more fun. I know of one child who really disliked art. He found the art class to be more tolerable when he was doing it with a friend.
Display Their Artwork
As you well know, children love having their artwork displayed. The refrigerator tends to be commonplace for it. You may find the number of displayed artwork overwhelming in number. An option to consider is taking pictures of the artwork and placing them into an album once you are ready to remove them from the refrigerator door. Creating a scrapbook, which includes a sampling of the artwork is another idea. Your children can then help with the scrapbooking.
Decorating cookies
Decorating cookies is a fun activity for kids especially when they can eat their creations afterward. Using pointillism techniques is one way to add art to cookies. It is simply adding small dots in different colors to the cookies creating shapes. You might want to look at a few Seurat paintings before decorating the cookies, so your children have an idea of what pointillism is. See the Light has a pointillism art project, Pointillism Fruit that your children may enjoy.
YouTube
You will find many art videos on YouTube. Some are not kid friendly. But there is a kid’s series called Art with Mati and Dada your children will enjoy watching.
Keep Art Supplies Readily Available
It is important to have art supplies accessible not only for an art class but also when a creative mood arises.
Use Art Curriculum That Does the Teaching for You
What I consider to be the best product for elementary students to use is See the Light’s Art Class since it is for beginning students. Your children will learn art techniques that will benefit them in their future projects. You will learn more about the Art Class DVDs in part 2 of this series.
Bonus: Free Art Project
The See the Light Art products mentioned in this post:
