Exploring Shapes in Art With Children

My two youngest (ages 4 and 6) have continued exploring shapes in art this week, through a couple of Sticker Art Shapes Books put out by Frances Lincoln Children's Books. There seem to be 10 different artists featured in the series. I picked up the books highlighting the works of Paul Klee, Sonia Delaunay.


Each book, beyond a picture, and short biography of the artist, has six of the artist's works, that the children can reproduce, with a set of reusable stickers. Here is C's version of Delaunay's "Red Propeller"...


...and E working on Klee's "A Child's Game".


We've also enjoyed looking through Lucy Micklethwait's I Spy Shapes In Art. It's a typical "I Spy" book. Every other page has the phrase "I spy with my little eye something..." and then a shape to look for on the following page, where there is a full page, color photograph of a painting.

The sought for shapes are found easily enough, but it is the added phrase, "What do you spy?", that causes the child, or adult, to stop and ponder the painting. And with pictured works by Kandinsky, Winslow Homer, Matisse, O'Keeffe, Klee, Torres-Garcia, and Escher, to name a few, there is plenty to ponder.

I cut up a few, colorful shapes, for the girls, this morning too, so they could make some original pieces, of their own.



They opted to start with self portraits.



You can find more stories, and art ideas for children, as well as some pretty nifty literature based crafts, at this week's stART (story + ART) link-up, hosted by A Mommy's Adventures.

It's great to be a homeschooler.