Art Appreciation the Charlotte Mason Way

If you want to bring art culture into your home, this is a great way to do it! This calendar has a different piece of artwork to display each day of the year.  Paintings, sculputers, historical items, etc.

A couple of years ago I was introduced to a simple way of exposing my children to art.
Charlotte Mason believed in short and simple lessons so as not to overwhelm the children and cause them to lose interest in learning.  The lecturer explained the following steps:

1) Choose an artist to study for about 6 weeks.

2) Choose quality pieces of artwork from that particular artist (I think she suggested one a week).

3) Have the children each take turns viewing the piece of artwork for a minute or two. 

4) When all have viewed the artwork, hide the picture and have each person take a turn telling what they remember from the painting (youngest to oldest).

That's it.  It's basically like the game played at baby and bridal showers where someone comes in with a tray filled with lots of items and then you are to remember as much as you can of what was on the tray in 30 seconds.  My husband has also taken this to another setting.  Say you're in the doctor's office...waiting...Have your children look around for a minute or two and then ask them to close their eyes.  Ask them questions such as, "What color is the door?" or "How many kids do you remember playing on the floor?" 

So, not only do the kids learn to appreciate different styles of art, but they also learn the art of observation...and it makes waiting all the more fun and easy!