Art for Inside

As promised here is the first in a series of art lessons for children to get through being shut in and not going crazy.  All of the books used are children's picture books, I've used these books and lessons for children ranging ages 4-11.  With older children I spend some time talking about books as art in their own right which helps them get past using a little kid book and also shows them a new way to look at those books.

Our first artist is Henri Matisse.  The book is Henri's Scissors.  

 I love this book and thought I'd start here because it not only is it beautiful, it is about Matisse toward the end of his life.  It has themes about illness, change, the need to collaborate in order to create, and death.  Before you stop reading it does these things in a way that is age appropriate and ultimately hopeful.  I was surprised the first time I read it with preschool children and they began talking about pets and grandparents and other relatives that had died.  It sparked a really beautiful conversation, especially when they realised they could use art as a means of remembering those they loved and coping with loss.  I'm a bit chagrined to admit I was surprised by the depth of the conversation I found myself having with four and five year old children.  Since we are in such an uncertain time I thought it a good theme to begin with.

For preschool and pre-k children the project began with painting paper as Matisse had his assistants do when he could no longer paint himself.  The intent was for them to paint with one color, but when you put all the colors out at once that isn't what you get.  I love the colorful results but if you want a final project that looks more like the artwork in the book limit choice to one color at a time.

Since most children this age are still learning to manage scissors I drew the shapes on the reverse of the paper and made the shapes with as few angles as possible,  some children will be able to follow the curved lines, some will have a bit more trouble.  All of their efforts were included no matter how perfect.  At this age it's the process that matters.

Older children were given a pile of paper, scissors, glue and a sample of shapes.

They were encouraged to let the project take them on their own path.  

Skills are widely divergent and the work of the older children was kept to individual pieces.  The younger children crested a collaborative piece where each child got to be Matisse and choose the placement of another child's work in the final collage.

We decided to add a little Henri to our final piece.  

The book is available on Amazon as both a digital or paper copy, Barnes and Noble also carries it online for nook users.  There are also several videos read alouds on YouTube.