Tag: art activity

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Fine Art Adventures #Kidlit from @ChiReviewPress

For Nonfiction Monday, we have a new title from Chicago Review Press, Fine Art Adventures: 36 Creative, Hands-On Projects Inspired by Classic Masterpieces by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw.

For years I volunteered for Art Masterpiece, which was a program started by the Phoenix Art Museum to help bring art to schools. For each classroom session we would bring a print of a famous painting, discuss it, and then have a hands-on art project related to the piece. The kids loved it and got so much out of it. You should have seen their eyes light up when they saw us come in the door.

Fine Art Adventures follows the same format and would be perfect for a similar offering. Featuring 18 well-known classic works of art, children learn about the background of the art and artist, and then have their choice of hands-on activities to explore related art concepts and techniques.

As Mike Norris, staff educator at the Metropolitan Museum for Art says:

…the genius of this book is that each activity — designed for the skills of children aged between six and eight — extends logically from the original artwork, no matter what its medium, providing refreshing insights about painters and painting.

The projects range from creating a Pointillist artwork using paints and a toothbrush, to making a shoebox diorama to accompany Henry Rousseau’s Surprised!

One question you might have is whether this book is for adults or children. The brilliance of Chicago Review Press books is that, with their easy-to-read and easy-to-use format, they work for both. The suggested age range is 6 and up.

Fine Art Adventures is a great resource for either school or home use. The best part is no experience is needed!

Art Activity Inspired by Fine Art Adventures

Patterns:  Lines, shapes, and colors

Henry Matisse’s The Snail is featured in Fine Art Adventures on page 10. Our Art Masterpiece collection used a print of Matisse’s Purple Robe and Anemones, which is a lovely painting full of vibrant colors and patterns. Although it seems like re-creating the look of the print for an art project might require multiple media and drying time between layers, the secret is to use color changing markers. The markers allow the young artist to fill an area with one color and then add lines/patterns by drawing over the filled area with the color changer pen. Fun and easy!

  1. Share image of Henry Matisse’s Purple Robe and Anemones
  2. Ask the students look for repeating lines or shapes that make patterns. Look at the robe, the wall, the floor, the vase. What about the designs on the tablecloth? Do any of the patterns repeat in other areas, perhaps in another color? Are there any places without lines? (the flowers, fruit, woman’s face)
  3. Gather:
  • Color Changing Markers
  • Paper
  • Other art supplies such as Sharpies, cray pas, etc. (optional)

Crayola Color Changing Markers

Let the children experiment with the markers and/or explain how to use the markers, if needed. For a project inspired by the painting, have them draw a simple vase on a table. Add flowers and fill in the background by adding repeating lines and shapes to different areas.

Once they’ve gotten the idea, let their imaginations soar.

Looking for a way to make this a STEAM project? Check out this video which explains a bit about how the color changing markers work and how to do an experiment to discover more.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Age Range: 6 and up
Grade Level: 1 and up
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Chicago Review Press (September 1, 2017)
ISBN-10: 0912777044
ISBN-13: 978-0912777047

Disclosure: This book was supplied by the publisher for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

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Looking for more children’s nonfiction books? Try the Nonfiction Monday blog.

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#kidlit Fatima and the Clementine Thieves Inspires STEAM Activities

The new picture book Fatima and the Clementine Thieves by Mireille Messier and illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard is fantastic. Not only is it a top notch example of a multicultural book, but it inspires any number of hands-on STEAM activities. How can one picture book do so much?

Summary:  Living in Morocco, Fatima’s family has an orchard of clementine oranges. Right before harvest, someone or something destroys some of the crop and breaks the trees. When they discover the orange thieves are elephants, what can Fatima and her grandfather do to stop them?

With help from her friends the spiders, Fatima comes up with an unusual and humane solution to her family’s problem. Mireille Messier‘s fable has wonderful underlying messages about the importance of collaboration, thinking outside the box, nonviolent solutions to problems, and how little things can make a huge difference.

What I love about the book:

  • That it features clementine oranges, which are a familiar, popular snack for small children.
  • That the author is bilingual and the book is available in French.
  • Gabrielle Grimard‘s luscious illustrations capture the time and place beautifully. You can just smell the citrus on every page.
  • The spiders

Like the orange, Fatima and the Clementine Thieves is a collections of sweet, complex-flavored messages wrapped up in a easy-to-handle package. Pick up a copy to savor with a young reader today. They will enjoy it.

Related STEAM Activities

It is easy to find great activities to accompany this book.

  1. Spiders play a major role in the story. Try some of the spider-science themed hands on activities at Growing with Science blog, like the climbing spider and making a spider web.

Clementine Orange Fractions

Gather

  • Clementines (or mandarin) oranges
  • Knife (for adult use)
  • Plates

Introduce the idea of fractions. Have an adult cut an orange in half most of the way through. Then cut another in fours. Finally cut one in eighths.

Have the children peel back the outer layer and look at the sections inside.  Have them count the sections in their fruit. Write down the counts. Do all the fruit have the same numbers of sections?  What fraction of the whole is a section in their fruit? For example, if there are eight sections in the fruit above, each section is 1/8 of the whole (roughly).

Of course, they will want to eat the results.

Art Activity

In the story, Fatima offers clementine peel flowers to the spiders.

Slice the oranges in the same way as the previous activity. Let the children peel the fruit. The peels can be used as “flowers” (see photograph below). Create scenes with different-shaped peels, other fresh plant materials, and/or your choice of art materials. Photograph the results. (See a creative example here).

For more advanced lessons, show how a three dimensional round object can be flattened into two dimensions.

Note:  The peels will curl drastically as they dry, so will need to be pressed if they are to be preserved.

Want to read more children’s books about spiders? See our list organized by genre and age at Science Books for Kids.

 

Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Publisher: Red Deer Press; 1 edition (June 30, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0889955298
ISBN-13: 978-0889955295

Disclaimer: Just so you know, the publisher supplied this title for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon. If you make a purchase after clicking on one of the title links, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you, the proceeds of which will help pay for maintaining this website.