Mandala Sand Art Mini Unit Study

Looking for an activity for your bigger kids?  Recently, while the pollen prevented us from being outside a lot, my kids dove into the stash of craft kits I have.

{Yes, I keep a stash of kits on hand - it's a good investment!}

My kids have been interested in Mandalas for quite some time.

They like to color them while I'm reading aloud. 

We learned about the history of Mandala, but found the history of sand art Mandala to be even more interesting.  

As I was searching for some relaxing art activities, I came across a beautiful Mandala Sand Art kit. Little did I know how marvelously they would turn out, or what a beautiful time we would have with them.

Click to read more ...

Filling a Space in a Beautiful Way

Yellow Cactus Flowers - Georgia O'Keeffe

"Filling a space in a beautiful way.  

That is what art means to me."

~ Georgia O'Keeffe

After a friend gave us this lovely book, we began a study of Georgia O'Keeffe. 

I have a confession:  Art intimidates me.  I am NOT an artist.  I love art and want my children to learn about artists, techniques, and to appreciate art.   This is one of the first attempts I have made in our homeschool to teach a full blown art lesson.   I looked for something SIMPLE.   This activity required paper, Sharpies, and watercolor markers.

We learned about warm colors, cool colors, Precisionism, and what abstract means.  

Our project was to make Georgia O'Keeffe inspired abstract flowers.  We started with a simple outline in black fine tip marker:

Everyone's turned out a little different.  Here is mom's:

Miss B's:  

and GMan:  

I'm so happy with the finished product!   If you'd like to try this lesson, you can get the plans at KinderArt.

As the children were coloring their flowers, I found a  slideshow of O'Keeffe's paintings set to music.  We let it play over and over.... and then read a little bit more about her online. I'm hoping there are some of her pieces in the permanent collection at The High Museum in Atlanta.   If there are, we will go see them soon.      

Do you like teaching art?  Are you scared like me?  Can anyone direct me to some websites for help?  

Making a Picture Study Wall

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand-Jatte

by Georges Seurat

One of my goals for the upcoming school year is to be more intentional about art... both studying famous works of art and making the effort to take my children to quality art classes.   To that end, I have been creating a little something this week I'd like to share.   Best thing... it only cost $7!


In the "FREE" pile at our co-op last year I found a stack of Impressionist paintings postcards.    I snagged them and finally got around to framing some of them this week.    Inspired by Melissa, at The Joys of Home Educating (if you are familiar with Melissa's blog, she loves to decorate using finds from The Dollar Store!), I went to our local Dollar Tree and found the PERFECT frames for the prints. 


There is a wall, just as you come in from the garage, that we pass a thousand times a day.   The wall was empty - until yesterday.   Now, it looks like this:

We have seven famous Impressionist paintings, which I'm making a point to talk about as we make our way through the hall each day.    

Do you recognize any of these?

Hopefully, after some time, my children will be able to recognize them, too.   Once they are familiar with these, I'd like to get other postcards from a different era and change the gallery.  


How do you study famous paintings/artists?   What are your plans and/or curriculum for art for the upcoming school year?