Simple Fun Games About Artists for Children
- This is an activity where children imitate the style of specific artists and learn about the artist while they work. If you are working with a large enough group of children, you may wish to split them into multiple groups and have each work on a different artist. Show the group of children several paintings by the same artist, and point out the aspects of the paintings that are unique to that artist. Then have the children make pictures in the style of that artist, imitating those features; depending on the artist you are working with, you may wish to give them either colored pens, paints or pencils. While the children are working on their pictures, describe to them in more detail the life and paintings of the artist.
- Many puzzles showing famous paintings are available from toy and game companies, but you can also make your own in a few simple steps. First, remove a print of a painting from an artist calender or poster. Then cover the painting in clear contact paper and cut around its edges with an X-acto knife, leaving just a little film around the edges of the painting. Finally, cut the painting itself into smaller pieces (the younger the child, the fewer and larger the pieces) and give it to your child to solve. Coloring books can similarly introduce children to famous paintings. You can find coloring books of famous paintings in toy and game shops, or you can download and print out single pages from the Internet.
- A number of game manufacturers have created games that teach children about famous artists. Specifically, there are a number of decks which can be used to play "Go Fish" and other children's card games, with the players trying to collect multiple works by the same artist. You can make your own variants of these card games by printing images of famous paintings and gluing them to index cards, then labeling them with the artist and the name of the painting.
- A number of websites have simple games and lessons to teach children about famous artists. Gardenofpraise.com's art section, for example, contains both information about a number of famous paintings, as well as quizzes and coloring activities. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website also has a large number of activities for children, including information on current exhibits and the biographies of artistic greats such as Cézanne.
