Art... any suggestions?

[Jumping In Puddles]

My son is in K now and he is just painting away and drawing with crayons and colored pencils which is fine by me and him. :) He draws things that are mostly unrecognizable but he is not bothered by it... he loves his creations!

Now, I'm planning for the fall - when he will be in first grade. What should I do for art? What are the options?

I searched the forums and saw mentions of Artistic Pursuits, Atelier, Handle on the Arts and Drawing With Children?

Is that it? Which one is the best? What do you use for your kids?

[MariaTX]

We liked Artistic Pursuits and the curriculum by Barry Stebbings, I Can Do All Things.

[Chris in VA]

I like Creative Art for the Developing Child, esp for that young (and preschoolers) because it gives information on the stages of art development, and how to support that development. For practical art, I like Evan Moor's Teaching Art to Children. It goes thru the elements of art and gives multiple projects to cover things like color, line, shape, form, space, etc. Some of the projects are better done in a group or classroom, but nearly all can be done by one child--I think you can preview the entire book at the Evan-Moor site.

I also liked Artistic Pursuits, but felt the postcards were too small and not "famous" enough. I bought a bunch of calendars that had nice, 8X10 repros of various works--Picasso, Monet, Chagall, etc. They were big enough to see clearly and dirt cheap (check the Dollar Store or just drug stores, esp in Feb or March, when all the calendars go on sale). There's a book whose name I can't recall--perhaps Discovering the Great Artists?-- that has kids learn about a famous artist and his work, then do a similar project (we've all heard of Michaelangelo painting--upside down under the table--this is a little more involved but not much). It doesn't teach drawing or how-to's, just letting the experience of art be enough. It might be good for K or 1st, if your son is pre-pictoral.

[mommysweird]

I like Draw, Write Now if you're good at coming up with your own instructions based on the pictures. My husband is a wonderful artist especially with drawings, so this is something he can do to be involved.

Also, try some picture studies to get him studying/thinking about how other artists do their work. If he's visual (he sounds alot like my 1st grader), he'll really enjoy observing other's techniques.

HTH!

[Maria/ME]

Well, I'm an AP fan...I lifted this from my blog:

David wanted something that taught technique but allowed freedom of expression. (This involves not telling a child "The sky is blue" or any "how-to's " when it comes to art lessons) You would not imagine how hard that is to find in the world of art curriculum's. To add to this conundrum I wanted to mix art appreciation with art technique. Find that! But, lo! I did. After much searching I came up with Artistic Pursuits.

I'm still pretty pleased with it...we have lots of art books around and we love to delve into video bios of artists and such. That takes care of art appreciation for us...but as for the technique I found that lots of curriculums where a little bit too into defining what THEY thought should be taught and less freedom of expression as I mentioned above...

Just some thoughts off the top of my head...there is a really great curriculum, altho expensive that is called Handle on the Arts (http://www.handleonthearts.com/) but maybe that is further down the line than first grade for you!

[Ellie]

you can order it from several suppliers, including Rainbow Resources, Shekinah Curriculum Cellar, and Rod and Staff Publishers.

[Mommy22alyns]

We've been using Harmony Fine Arts to pull together art instruction/appreciation and music appreciation. Grade 1 is a general survey, making observations on art and doing a simple project incorporating some of those ideas. More specifically, that's Option 2. There's an option for CM-esque picture study and also an option using a lot of small Dover coloring books. You can choose the option that suits you and your DC best.

You could also just get something like Primary Art and choose a project every week - that's fun!

[ElizabethB]

My stick figures look bad, my daughter's art is already better than mine.

We got a lot of books from the library showing you how to draw, they work pretty good, they even helped me a little, although my artwork is still pitiful.

Eventually, we found that kind of book on sale at Books-A-Million for $10--it is very comprehensive--most of the books at the library were one thing, animals or people, or trucks, etc, this book had everything. It's called "You Can Draw." We'll start a more formal art program when she's older, this is working for us for now.

I also like this website for ideas:

http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/search/label/1st%20grade

[Karin]

Draw Write Now was a hit when my dc were 5. Later I loved the Phonics of Drawing, which has 3 levels, and we have a couple of Barry Stebbing books.

[Jumping In Puddles]

Thanks you all for the suggestions! Now I have some more things to look at and think about. :)

[momsquared]

Sign up for an art class at the park district or a studio. LOL

I am serious...I get stressed by the mess in the cold months when we cannot go outside. My daughter goes to a children's studio and loves it.

[Jumping In Puddles]

Sign up for an art class at the park district or a studio. LOL

I am serious...I get stressed by the mess in the cold months when we cannot go outside. My daughter goes to a children's studio and loves it.

THAT is actually a great idea! :)