Looking at Art with Toddlers

Exploring art with toddlers is not just about letting them get messy with paint but also showing them works that have already been made. As a student of art history I have an entire wall of books delving into every topic imaginable in art. However, for children I find the easiest way to introduce them to art is to show them works created with children and animals. That gives them something to relate to and a way for you to talk to them about the painting or sculpture. Because we are dealing with really short attentions spans here you don't have to have a serious discussion, but rather check out some books from the library and look at them for fun.

Here are some things you can talk about:

• Play "I Spy". Ask you child to tell you what colors are in the painting or how many apples there are.  
• You can tell them the name of the person who did it. This is easy to remember as famous artists often are referred to by one name ie. Magritte, Michelangelo, Degas, Picasso.
• Pick out a handful of paintings, print out two of each image on a piece of card stock and play matching. 
• If you have an older toddler (more towards three) you can have them pick out the main colors from a favorite painting and make their own drawing of it. 
• Make your own art gallery at home. Print out some colorful works of art from different eras and place tape them up on the wall at your toddlers eye level. You could even make cardboard picture frames and frame them. I have one set spot in our homeschool space that I put up a new work of art every week. By having art up in your home your toddler will learn to appreciate beautiful things, and the rotation keeps their attention. 

There are many many wonderful books out there that are great for children to look at art. Here are a few that we like a lot:

• I Spy: An Alphabet in Art
• I Spy Shapes in Art
• Sunday with Seurat
• Vincent's Colors
• Monet's Impressions
• Katie Meets the Impressionists (There are number of books in this series covering different periods of art history)

A quick search on amazon with give you a huge list a amazing books to choose from. If you are not familiar with fine art, I would start by introducing your little one to Impressionists and modern artists such as:

• Monet
• Van Gogh 
• Degas
• Mary Cassatt
• Seurat
• Mattise
• Magritte
• Picasso
• Frida Khalo
• Pollack
• Edward Munch

Wikipedia has a great list of modern artists. And if you want a shortcut to all the paintings of children ever go to I am A Child. It's a great blog focused on showcasing children in art history.

                                                                                        Magritte (source Wikipedia)


Pre-historic art is also a lot of fun to look at. You can try your hand at painting some rocks from your back yard to see how hard it would be to paint on cave walls!

If your toddler is still really interested after you've looked at all these things, try going to your local art museum. Go at a time where you are not likely to meet a lot of people so that you don't need to worry so much about being quiet. Modern art museums are great as they are often filled with really interesting installation pieces and sculptures, many interactive.

Lastly, I'd like to make a note about nudity in art history. Art from its very early stages has included nudity. You can't get away from it. In Europe seeing the nude body doesn't phase children at all as it's all around them in public sculptures, and in many countries even on billboards. If you happen upon a nude painting or statue in your explorations just take it for what it is; your child may not even notice.