Here’s my 3rd installment of themed books, activities and snacks to help you organize your Social Distancing days. How are you holding up? It’s just the beginning for me and I’m pretty nervous about this increased social isolation. I hope you and your family are well.
I had this Museum Nerd fantasy that all the museums would stay open, that most people would avoid going, and so I could have the museum all to myself! #WishfulThinking But, anyway, here are some fine arts ideas for you and your family!!
Curriculum Connection
If you’ve never matched up your history curriculum with objects in a museum, maybe take some of your time at home to search the collections of the MFA or other institutions to find objects that bring to life the time periods and cultures you study. The MFA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC and others have truly encyclopedic collections of the arts that you can search and view online.
Field Trips
The deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park has closed their museum but their sculpture park is free and open to the public. Take a beautiful walk, but maintain social distancing!
Virtual Field Trips
12 Famous museums offer virtual tours, from MSN.com. This article links you directly to the virtual tours of these amazing institutions below.
- British Museum, London
- Guggenheim Museum, New York
- National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
- Musee d’Orsay, Paris
- National Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Seoul
- Pergamon Museum, Berlin
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
- The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
- Uffizi Gallery, Florence
- MASP, Sao Paulo
- National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
Books
“Art Dog,” Thacher Hurd
“Oxford first book of art,” Gillian Wolf
“The Usborne First Book of Art,” Rosie Dickins
“Henri, egg artiste,” Marcus Pfister
Activities
- Tape Resist Painting on stretched canvas or card stock
- Color Symphony science experiment
- Monoprinting
- Coloring pages from libraries and cultural institutions around the world
Online Learning
Lunch Doodles with Mo Wilems , The JFK Center for the Performing Arts, Artist-in-Residence-At-Home
“Mo Willems invites YOU into his studio every day for his LUNCH DOODLE. Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks. Grab some paper and pencils, pens, or crayons and join Mo to explore ways of writing and making together.
“New episodes will be posted each weekday at 1:00 p.m. ET and then remain online to be streamed afterwards. Check back each weekday for new LUNCH DOODLES!”
- Learn Fine Art techniques on YouTube
- 7 ways of blending colored pencils for beginners, Unmask Art
- How to Draw Faces, RapidFireArt
- The Museum of Fine Arts’ YouTube channel
One of my favorite art historians of all time is Sister Wendy Beckett. She has the most amazing, humanist analysis of fine art. She loves and understands humanity and expresses it exquisitely in her series on Fine Arts. Check out this segment from Sister Wendy’s PBS series on Rothko and Warhol – and then click around to see the other segments available for free on YouTube.
And if you want to know more about Sister Wendy, watch this interview with Bill Moyers, It’s broken into 6 parts.
Snacks
Paintbrush rice crispy treats
Broke Boston Homeschooling 