Welcome Your Child to the World of Art

by Ellen Jackson

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."-- Pablo Picasso

When someone says summer, kids and fun in the same sentence, you may think of the outdoors. But what do you do on those rainy days when your kids are tugging at your shirt for something to do or complaining they are bored as they stand among mounds of toys? Use this time to introduce your child to the visual arts. It’s a great rainy day activity, no matter how old or young your children (or you) are.

Exposure to the visual arts is beneficial to your child in a variety of ways. When she looks at a painting, past the frame, brush strokes and colors, your child learns so many things about the world. Art takes her back in time and shows her how people lived, what they believed in and how they dressed. It takes her to other countries and exposes her to different cultures and interesting customs. Nature comes alive in art, with lush green jungles, colorful gardens, babbling brooks and animals of all kinds, including rare and exotic, as well as common house pets.

The arts can have a significant impact on your child’s academic achievement. According to Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization for advancing the arts, exposure to the arts stimulates creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills and promotes team-building skills. SAT scores for students who studied the arts are higher than for those who had no arts experience, according to The College Entrance Examination Board.

There are many ways to introduce your child to the visual arts. The most obvious is a trip to the art museum. With some advance planning, this can be a fun adventure for the entire family:

• Limit your length of stay. You can always go back.
• Pick a specific focus of art to view, such as one artist, a special exhibit, a certain type of art like Impressionism or a specific subject matter such as kids, food, shapes or animals.
• Before your visit, look in books or on the Internet for examples of the artwork you will see. Your child will amaze herself when she actually recognizes them in the museum.
• Make it a game. When my children and I went to The Art Institute of Chicago, I made a page of thumbnail size pictures of some of the most famous pieces of art at the museum. As we went into each gallery, my kids eagerly looked for the paintings and checked them off as they found them.

The art museum can also reinforce what your child has learned in school. If your child learned about a certain country, visit the museum and look for art from that country, such as Indian or African art. Did your child learn about a specific artist or an art concept? Go to the museum and look for more paintings by that same artist.

If you can’t get to the museum or don’t think your child is quite ready, consider some other activities that involve the visual arts:

• Read a story. There are many storybooks written about famous artists, such as Camille and the Sunflowers written by Laurence Anholt. A variety of non-fiction books about artists are available that are written for a younger audience, such as the Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists series by Mike Venezia.
• Show your child a famous piece of art, either from one of your museum trips or from a book, and ask her to draw a picture similar to it or tell or write a story about it.
• Start a postcard collection. When visiting a museum, buy a few postcards of some of the paintings your child saw.
• Have materials available for your child to create her own art.
• Frame your child’s artwork and make a "gallery" wall in your house to display them. Make a big deal about it.
• Make a point to notice patterns or pictures that resemble an artist’s style as you are doing other things with your child. You may see some splattered paint that resembles a Jackson Pollock masterpiece.
• Buy posters of famous artwork and hang them around your house.
• Make a point to notice art in homes, offices, parks and stores that you visit.

The most important thing to remember? Make it fun, do it often and do it together. Your child will have special memories of doing something with you on a rainy day and the benefits will last a lifetime.

Ellen Jackson of Solon is the owner of Budding Artists, Art History for Kids and teaches art history enrichment classes to preschool and elementary school age children. E-mail her at Buddingartists@sbcglobal.net.