I have always loved art. When I studied history in University, I took some Art History classes and loved them. We are lucky to have the National Gallery of Canada here in Ottawa (a family friendly place to visit I might add!) and I used to go to exhibits after class in my twenties.
Children’s art may not be instant gallery pieces, but the creativity that art provides them thrills me. It also makes me happy that each of them take an interest in art, my son in particular likes to learn about historical pieces – when they were made, and how they tied into real events.
Art is subjective. There’s no right or wrong way. To show the kids just that, I set up an activity for them.
I had each kid sit at the table with a piece of paper and some markers. I put a large box between them so they couldn’t see what the other person is drawing. Then, I gave them a list of instructions that went something like as follows (and note – this list can be changed each time for different results!
- Draw a square (any size and location on the page)
- Draw a circle.
- Turn the square into whatever you want.
- Draw a triangle.
- Now another.
- Add eyes to your circle.
- Draw a line.
- Turn the line into anything you want
- Add your name.
When they were done, we removed the box so they could see just how different each one had interpreted the exact same instructions. (The white pieces of paper is just where I’ve covered their names.)
Try this at home! It’s an easy, but fun lesson in art!
