Tuesdays are for Toddlers: Gone Modern!

Today’s post is going where most parents dread to go: Modern Art museums.

This isn’t your normal art. Sometimes it’s hard to understand, and sometimes you won’t really see it as art. In an article titled “Three questions not to ask about art – and four to ask instead“, Messham-Muir covers the in-depth part of this blog post for adults. But as toddlers are different creatures all together, it seems only fair to make a Modern Art based piece for the littler hands out in the world.

Modern Art is just a different way of looking at or expressing the world, emotions, and theories around the artist. It can follow any number of artistic styles or movements, and usually requires some form of understanding of time period or background of the artist. Because of this, it isn’t always easy to interpret or understand at first glance. But, toddlers have a way of either hitting the nail on the head or, in some instances, coming up with absolutely priceless answers. Asking your little one what they see or what they think it means in a Modern Art museum can be the most fun you’ll have all day, even if they don’t understand why you’re refraining from giggling. And while you may look at some pieces and think to yourself “my kid could paint something better than that”, remember that there’s more going on in the piece than is immediately apparent.

Abstract art is probably my favorite type because I can’t realistically draw what I see in front of me (my husband is an artist. It gets frustrating when he says I could draw if I tried hard enough), but I can put it into my own shapes and colors. If you happen to live near a large Modern Art museum (Museum of Modern Art in New York, for example, or the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; some museums use the word Contemporary such as the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, though Contemporary Art and Modern Art are not the same thing entirely), check out what they have to offer in terms of exhibits or themes for the season. Some art museums mix styles based on region if they have a long spanning history of resident artists. The Andy Warhol Museum http://www.warhol.org/ is a Modern Art museum dedicated to the work of one artist and those that followed in his style.

Ness’ son created this raised salt art project. What do you think? Try creating raised salt paintings of your own!

If you don’t live near a large city with a Modern Art museum, have no fear! Several larger Modern Art museums have digital tours available online or offer some means for visitors from out of town to access their collection in some means! And of course, you can always create your own Modern Art museum in your house with creations from your little one. One fun project (that actually combines science, because I’m a sucker for science that’s also art) is raised salt painting. Over at OnePerfectDay Blog, Ness has tips and instructions for creating your very own raised salt painting to hang throughout your house.

Finding the Subject in the Material

Every day there’s an opportunity to see the subject in the material. This picture is the perfect example: we weren’t looking for an art shot on our historic meander, but we found one.

Museums and schools have had a long symbiotic relationship that has recently been put on the rocks.  Schools these days are severely underfunded when it comes to field trips, making teachers focus on getting the most out of every trip taken in a year. Museums, in turn, have had to move towards a more formal look at their classes and offerings for schools in order to satisfy local and state curriculum and education standards. Thus, we have the subject of today’s post: finding the subject in the material.

What does that even mean? Don’t you usually write the material for the subject? Yes and no. If you go into a museum with the subject in mind, you may not get as full of a field trip or visit as you’d like. But if you go into a museum with the material in mind, the subjects are endless.

Take, for example, a natural history museum. Rocks, minerals, animals, maybe even dinosaurs (anyone that says they don’t like dinosaurs is probably lying, FYI). If you look at it as just a chance to study fossils or the natural environment, you may miss out on the opportunity to discuss texture, history, human impact, or mathematics (think word problems). If you go into an art museum expecting to only discuss art, you’re missing out on mathematics, politics, world cultures, literature, mythology, world religions, history, and science, as well as psychology and personal development (to name a few).

All museums offer something beyond what’s described or pictured on the surface.  And visitors from different backgrounds will take away different meanings and relationships from the same objects. Teachers have a hard enough time teaching in a classroom; museums give them a chance to teach a bunch of subjects to a bunch of individuals who may not always feel a personal connection to a subject in school. Suddenly that student may have the chance to create a potentially lasting relationship with a subject because they now see it in a different light. You never know what will be the initial spark to someone’s fire.

In grad school, we were required to write lesson plans for potential activities that fit state educational and learning objectives. Our professor told us to write the activities and lesson plans and then find the objectives that met them, rather than read the objectives and write plans that fit them. So now I offer that challenge to you, readers.

This post isn’t just for teachers or parents. This is your personal challenge this weekend to visit a museum you’ve never been to before with no pre-conceived subject in mind, and see what the material presents to you. Find the subject in the material.

Tuesdays are for Toddlers!

Today marks the first post of a weekly theme: Toddlers.

For the purpose of this blog, toddlers are going to be considered children from the ages of 1-4. They’re a challenge for some, mostly because of their growing personalities and often changing natures. Let’s think of them as snowflakes; not necessarily always fragile, but each one unique in their needs, thoughts, and learning styles. However, they are some of the most rewarding people to teach. Getting to watch their faces light up when they finally master a task or a subject is really quite wonderful.

Today, let’s talk about toddlers in art museums. Art museums can be less than entertaining and heavy on the confusion. But, there are ways to bring life to each of the works in the building through the eyes of children. You know that saying “from the mouths of babes”? The cool thing about toddlers is that they can come up with some fascinating stories and comparisons.

So, let’s spice up a trip to the art museum. Bring crayons and paper (please check with your local museums before bringing in pens or markers; some museums have strict policies about bringing writing utensils into the galleries), and ask them to draw their own stories. Talk about what they see in the pictures, and let them enact out what they see in sculptures. Getting kids moving allows them to focus a little better, and giving them an opportunity to explain what they’re seeing or feeling in art helps them express emotions and process the world around them.

For a follow up activity at home, take some potatoes, radishes, carrots, and celery (or whatever you have in the fridge or pantry), and cut them in half width-wise. Put some water-based finger paints in a bowl and lightly dip the vegetables into the paint. Each of these veggies creates a different shape and pattern on paper, and as you keep stamping with them the grains and fibers of the plants will retain the pigment in the paint. Have your kids explain the shapes and patterns they see, and describe the story they are depicting with shape and color. It’s a fun way to get involved in abstract art and gets kids involved in the museum visit with reinforcement when you get home.

One of my favorite groups to teach was toddlers because it allowed me to get down on the floor and see things from their point of view. Sometimes, I think that’s just about the most excellent way to see the world.