Introducing famous artists to my toddlers and what did that teach me?
When Covid-19 struck, I had no idea that I will discover an important learning of my life: Teaching children (or in-fact ourselves!) about art is not just about coaching them how to recognize a Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci. It’s about constructing young minds to develop their own process and form of expression.
I have always been interested in learning more about world’s famous artists and their work. And as I was looking for ways to do so during this pandemic, I got an idea to involve my twin toddlers in this. After all, one is never too young to appreciate art!
It was clear that I did not want to overload them with art history lessons but wanted to introduce the work of famous artists in a fun way. It had to be more of hands-on artwork using techniques of famous artists that allowed them to use their minds creatively and hone their fine-motor skills all while having fun and learning.
But Why?
What was the need to introduce them to artists, especially at such an early age?
A valid question.
Well, it goes back to the basics- Anything you see in real life now, was once just a mere idea in someone’s brain. The art to express, hence becomes very critical. And we all know we have language for that.
But I also believe that ‘Art’ can be as effective a form of expression as the world of reading / writing. It also helps in developing a child’s understanding of different cultures and viewpoints. The role of art in helping children regulate their emotions is well researched, a critical skill for well-adjusted children and adults.
Cindy Ingram, founder of Art Class Curator and the Curated Connections Library, talks about it in detail in her blog post and to quote her:
Art connects us to history, our self, and cultures around the world. It teaches kids how to think critically, how to solve problems, and how to express themselves.
So, What Was The Challenge?
How do we make art history learning fun for toddlers without overloading them with history lessons?
It is definitely a challenge to make the little ones engage in art history when one can barely get them to sit in one place.
What helped me was setting a clear goal for this exercise. The main focus was to expose the kids to the different processes and techniques (in a fun way!) used by various artists rather than teaching them the entire breadth of an artists’ work or the entire art movement.
Hence, for this exercise I did not share too much information about the artists or the art period as they are far too young for that. But what I did do was ideate around different ways they can learn and experiment with the techniques the artists used!
How did I go about it?
a. Choosing the Artists:
The first step was to come up with a list of artists to learn from. I did a lot of research and based on my kids age, I chose the following artists that not only had a very unique style but their techniques were simple enough to explain to young toddlers. My list included:
- Jackson Pollock
- Piet Mondrian
- Henry Matisse
- Georgia O'Keeffe
b. Coming up with a 4-day Art Program
I created a 4-day program for this exercise and the plan was that each day we’ll be doing the following THREE things as I introduce my toddlers to some of the great artists:
- Choosing ONE famous artist.
- Learn more about the artist by reading a book/ watching a short video.
- Doing an easy hands-on art activity inspired by the artist’s technique.
- Learning some ‘Fun-Facts’ (Remember fun is important!) and STEM concepts from the technique.
Part of the process was not giving any directions or having any outcome in mind and setting them completely free to create on their own. All I did was offer help, some tips on how they might want to use the paint and participate with them (it’s fun and important!)
Day#1: Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock was famous for making art by dripping and splashing paint on a large canvas. Because of the method, this style is often called action painting.
He showed the world that canvas did not need to be set upon an easel on an upright surface, but rather spread out in the raw where the artist could view and approach it from all sides and angles.
Preparation:
- Read: Action Jackson Paperback by Jan Greenberg
- Watch: Jackson Pollock | Kids Animated Short Stories in English; How to paint like Jackson Pollock
- Art Work: Clearly this ‘drip paint’ fun was going to get messy, hence we chose to do it in our patio. I used few A4 size paper sheets as the canvas, taped it on the floor and spent an hour dripping and drizzling paint ALL OVER IT!
💡 STEM Learning:
Distance and speed. It was interesting for kids to see the patterns changing with varied distance and speed.
👨🏻🎨 FunFact About Pollock:
Jackson Pollock enjoyed listening to music while painting, we made sure to turn on our speakers while making art!
Day#2: Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian’s paint style goes back to basics: horizontals and verticals in primary colors- This style is geometric abstraction with primary color. He used to believe that a painting doesn’t need to represent anything: it has to make you feel something.
With bold outlines, high contrast, and bright colors, Mondrian’s artwork is usually well received by children, and creating artwork inspired by Mondrian is simple and fun!
Preparation:
- Read: Coppernickel Goes Mondrian by Wouter van Reek
- Watch:History of Piet Mondrian, Who was Piet Mondriaan?
- Art Work: To execute Mondrian inspired art, I helped my kids to create a random grid on A4 sheet with paper tape. Then let my kids fill the rectangles and squares they have created with the paint (mostly primary colors). it was interesting to see how one of them wanted to fill in the blocks with a solid color whereas the other followed her heart for being inspired by Mondrian.
💡STEM Learning:
Geometry and shapes: Square, Rectangle, Line, Blue, Red, Yellow, Black, White, Big and Small.
👨🏻🎨 Fun-Fact About Piet Mondrian:
- He loved to dance- not traditional dances like waltzes or tango, but enjoyed high energy, fast dancing styles.
- His art style also inspired Yves Saint Laurent to come up with Mondrian dresses!
Day#3: Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse got popular for what later came to known as drawing with scissors/cutouts. He used brightly colored paper and scissors to cut out organic shapes, animals, leaves, dancers and flowers and then arrange them. In his own words:
“Cutting directly into color reminds me of a sculptor’s carving into stone.”
Preparation:
- Read: Matisse’s Garden by Samantha Friedman; Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors, by Jane O’Conner
- Watch:Henri Matisse for kids part 1; Henri Matisse for kids part 2
- As my kids are very young and yet to fully develop their scissor skills, they helped me create organic shapes and I did the cutting. It was a fun activity as we discussed what all these different shapes could be! You can try to emulate Matisse cut-outs, or get creative in your own way. I handed the cut-outs, glue stick and large paper sheet to them to create their own compositions.
💡STEM Learning:
Organic shapes, positive space, negative space, control.
FunFact about Matisse:
Originally, Matisse studied and trained to become a lawyer. 👨⚖️
Day#4: Georgia O’Keeffe
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist who painted nature in a way that showed how it made her feel. She is best known for her large format of flower paintings and desert landscapes. But her paintings weren’t just a bunch of lilies; she painted enlarged versions of a single flower, like what you would see if you were to look through a magnifying glass.
Preparation:
- Read: Georgia O’Keeffe (Little People, BIG DREAMS (13)); My Name is Georgia
- Watch:Georgia O’Keefe for Kids
- Art Work: For this exercise, we went for a stroll outside and I asked my kids to pick up any one flower they admire. It was interesting to hear their reasons for admiring the particular flower. After reaching home, I gave them a pencil, a sheet of paper and asked them to make their flower as big as they can on the paper. Once they were done, I asked them to choose their medium of color- and they wanted color dab pens!
💡STEM Learning:
Parts of a flower and how they grow.
👩🏻🎨 FunFact about Georgia O’Keefe:
She grew up on a dairy farm!
What did I learn in the process?
My Takeaways:
- Sometimes it’s difficult to analyze an artist’s work but knowing more about them definitely helps in understanding what they are trying to depict in their work. Re-look the art!
- When you control the urge to direct the outcome and let your kids go with the flow, not only does it become more fun but also powerful- I was amazed when my kids tried to mix two artists’ techniques!
- It’s never about the product that is created, but rather the learning that takes place in the process.
- Kids and Art- they go together!
Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your experiences if you have or plan to do similar exercise with your kids! Please see the following resources if you are interested in exploring more about this topic.
Resources:
1. Jackson Pollock: https://www.jackson-pollock.org/
2. Piet Mondrian: https://kids.kiddle.co/Piet_Mondrian
3. Henri Matisse: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2014/matisse/the-cut-outs.html
http://www.biography.com/news/henri-matisse-the-cut-outs-moma
http://www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html
4. Importance of art education for children: https://kinderart.com/blog/art-education/
5. The Best Children’s Books for Budding Art Lovers: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-best-new-childrens-books-budding-art-lovers
