Looking at Art with Preschoolers

This is the second post to a short series on art education. If you didn’t catch my last post, you should start here.

Henri Matisse The Music Lesson

There were many times when my son Jackson was a baby that his little eyes would light up as soon as I picked him up. He would then start pointing at and babbling about whatever pictures were then at eye level. Little ones are drawn to pictures, and images are a wonderful way for a child to learn. Looking at art can open up a child’s world, helping them learn to see beyond themselves.

I know that teaching art appreciation to a child, especially a preschooler, seems intimidating, but it can actually be pretty simple.

Start by looking at pictures. A child can learn a great deal by simply looking. Talk about what is happening in the picture. Tell a story together about it. Looking together at a variety of artists, styles, and eras can start giving your little concrete thinker a sense of a much bigger world.

-Look at paintings and sculptures that depict children from different times and settings doing familiar things, like taking a bath or playing outside.

Mary Cassatt Children on the Beach

-Look at art from other times and cultures. This is a wonderful way to expose your child to different people groups around the world.

-Try to find art that depicts subjects that your child has shown interest in, or stories that you have been reading. Egyptian art would add wonderful depth and context to the story of Moses. If you’re studying the parts of a flower, look at art by Georgia O’Keefe.

Collect pictures for your home. Keep postcards of paintings in a place where your child can look through them. Check out books from the library that focus on artists. There are lots of children’s books out there that introduce children to art history. Our public library actually has art prints that you can check out. Barbara at MommyLife, among her other wonderful writings about children and the arts, has an insightful article about hanging art at your child’s level.

Look at art outside your home. Plan a morning at a local art museum. Ours has free admission, and they even give guided tours. Plan what you want to see ahead of time, and look at some of the works on the computer or in books before you go. Talk about some of the artists or eras that you’ll see.
Jean at The Artful Parent has more tips on bringing a preschooler to a museum. We’ve brought our boys to our local museum a couple times, and it was very fun. We always wonder why we don’t go more often!
Besides the art museum, make a point to attend local art fairs when they come around. If you have a college or university nearby, look for when they have student art shows.

Enjoy exploring the world of art with your children. You may find that, while you are doing this for your their benefit, you will be learning right along with them!

Here are a couple resources that I’ve found to be very helpful:

Come Look With Me

This is a charming series that asks your children questions about different works of art. I own the ones on animals, landscapes and children at play, but there are others as well. Our library has several. These were invaluable to me when I was teaching, but I think they are even better for story time at home. I put them in my sidebar so you can take a look.

Artchive.com
I used this site all the time when I was teaching. It has a long list of artists and art periods with bios and image lists. It’s not all-inclusive, but it’s still a great resource for looking at a variety of artwork.

Do you have any children’s art resources that you use? Please share…

Next week I will be sharing one of my favorite topics…
Aesthetics: Recognizing Beauty in your World