Welcome! If you’re eager to find creative ways to teach art history to elementary students, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll explore practical strategies and engaging activities to make art history education come alive for young learners. From selecting influential artists to incorporating interactive games and virtual museum tours, we’ll provide you with a range of ideas to spark interest and foster a deeper understanding of art history. So, let’s dive in and discover how to make learning about art history a fun and enriching experience for your students!
Selecting Notable Artists
When you’re picking artists to introduce, it’s a good idea to choose a diverse range of individuals from different time periods, cultures, and art movements. You can consider well-known names like Leonardo da Vinci, Frida Kahlo, Vincent van Gogh, or Pablo Picasso. A nice alternative the “well-known” route is to select an artist from your local area. This will give your students an instant connection to the artist.
Once you have selected the artist, take the opportunity to showcase the artist’s most remarkable artworks, unique styles, and techniques that have made them influential figures in the art world. It’s important to explain why their work holds relevance as you attempt to capture the interest of elementary students. Focus on interesting aspects of their art like the vivid colors, intriguing shapes, or captivating stories conveyed through their creations.
When I taught my students about George Rodrigue, I showed his Blue Dog series. My students instantly found it interesting because many of the Blue Dog paintings are entertaining to look at. My students loved the Blue Dog in the Santa hat, as well as the ones of him getting married…they laughed and discussed without me having to prompt them to tell me what they thought about the art. Once they found out that the Blue Dog was originally painted to be a werewolf, they couldn’t get enough! These may sound like small details, but they are what created buy in during the art history lecture and are also what made George Rodrigue memorable to them.
Interactive Learning Activities
Engage students in interactive and hands-on learning experiences by providing clear, step-by-step instructions for art projects inspired by famous artworks or artists. For example, they could explore their own artistic abilities by creating a landscape using oil pastels, taking inspiration from Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece “Starry Night”. This will also help you visually assess the student’s understanding of the artist and their unique style. Can you tell that the landscape was inspired by the style of “Starry Night”? If not, you may want to revisit the characteristics of Van Gogh’s work.
Encourage your students to participate in engaging activities such as collage-making, printmaking, or experimenting with different art mediums to replicate the unique styles of various artists. In following lessons, students may choose to express their creativity and self-expression by using the techniques and styles they’ve learned about during their art history lessons.
Art History Games and Quizzes
Have your students try out online platforms or apps that offer interactive games and quizzes focused on art history, tailored specifically for elementary students. Google’s Arts & Culture website features a games section, which is fun and interactive. PBS Kids has several art-themed games which help students match art with specific cultures or locations. Some other popular options I can suggest are the “Art Detective” game, the Art History Kids website, or educational sites like Khan Academy.
If you are unfamiliar, “Art Detective” is a game that will sharpen your students’ skills in art attribution. Looking at the images you have selected for them, students will try to figure out the who, what, when, where and why of the image. You may ask questions like “When do you think that was painted?”, “Where do you think this art was made?”, “Have you ever seen any other art that looks like this?” and “What do you think the artist was trying to say?”. As students consider the art, you can begin to give them clues if it is needed. If you would like more details about how to play “Art Detective”, I recommend this article from Art History Kids. For games with more of a “Clue” kind of feel, you could try out something like this. It wouldn’t be very hard to create your own version.
For a more analog alternative, you could provide your students with downloadable resources or printable worksheets that feature fun games, puzzles, or activities related to art history topics, such as matching games or fill-in-the-blank exercises. Using sites like Canva, you could easily create your own entertaining art-related quizzes with multiple-choice questions and interesting facts about artists, famous artworks, or significant art movements.
Virtual Museum Tours
When teaching art history, it may come in handy to offer a curated selection of virtual museum tours and online art collections to your students. This is a free option to provide your students with access to famous artworks and exhibitions. One word of caution: Be sure that your curated list only contain tours that are suitable for children. Many museums and virtual tours contain works of art that nude or that contain adult themes. Take the tour yourself and make sure that there is not mature content shown before inviting your students to participate.
Provide links to reputable websites like Google Arts & Culture, where students can embark on virtual tours of renowned museums from around the world, exploring art from different cultures and time periods. Offer guidance on how to navigate these virtual tours, highlighting specific artworks or collections that would captivate and interest elementary students. Google’s Arts & Culture site not only features exhibits and tours, but also games that can be played by your students.
Incorporating Stories and Biographies
Make the learning experience more captivating by sharing fascinating narratives or simplified biographies of artists. Highlight interesting aspects of their lives or their creative journeys. Share intriguing anecdotes or stories that young students can relate to, such as personal struggles, moments of inspiration, or unique artistic techniques employed by the artists.
For example, you could talk about how Jean Michel Basquiat was hit by a car when he was in elementary school. This accident is what caused Basquiat’s mom to give him an anatomy book. The book was meant to teach Jean Michel about how his body would heal from the accident while he was hospitalized, but for Basquiat it is what sparked his desire to learn the human anatomy that would later show up in his artistic work.
Diving deeper into an artist’s history, helps to establish connections between the experiences of these artist and universal themes like self-expression, imagination, or the exploration of nature and emotions. Your students might connect with an artist because they have a similar heritage, background or personal struggle. Do what you can to help your students make those connections.
Connecting Art History to Student Artwork
Encourage your students to channel their creativity by creating artwork inspired by the artists or art movements they’ve learned about. For instance, they could paint a landscape reminiscent of Claude Monet’s style, create a collage inspired by the cubist artworks of Picasso or complete a self-portrait featuring bold brushstrokes like Van Gogh.
Encourage class-wide reflection and discussion among students about their artistic choices and how they were influenced by the artists or art movements studied. This can be done with turn and talks (small group), artist statements (solo work) or with presentations of their completed projects to the whole class. When you showcase your student’s artwork, post it alongside relevant information about the historical context, the artist’s style, or techniques used. Highlight the connection between the art history lessons and your students’ own creative expressions.
Conclusion
Art history is a crucial component of any quality visual arts program. It helps students understand why an artist creates art as well as the meaning of that art. By incorporating the methods listed in this article, you can provide practical and engaging guidance for introducing art history to elementary students. It is possible to do this in both an educational and an enjoyable way!
Leave a Reply