I recently wrote about our visit to Feat. at Schermerhorn Symphony Center and the Frist Art Museum. After the show, we had the unexpected opportunity to talk with Nick Cave. My sons walked away wishing they had their drawings (above) to share with him. The night before the performance, they designed their own soundsuits using …
We live with preschoolers who get excited about games like Go Fish and Trouble. You can find a versions of these games picturing all sorts of characters. There are a few that use images from art history and our children are just as interested in those images as the cartoon animals. Below are some of our favorite …
On a long holiday break, I break out a new activity book for everyone. Coloring books for adults have filled the market. Most of them are too feminine, romantic, or predictable for my taste. However, below is the short list of options that I am choosing for each person in our family. You can see a longer list of art …
If you want to understand art, then (as Agnes Martin instructs), “You go there and sit and look.” But it is a rare and celebrated moment when my preschoolers sit and just look. That is one of the reasons I really like jigsaw puzzles that picture artworks. We can all just sit and look. There are a few …
If you need a jigsaw puzzle, you need one during the epic holiday seasons coming up. Either for a gift or to entertain all the generations getting together to feast. Our children and our grandparents love puzzles. They will peacefully assemble the one’s with fifty kitties snuggling up or snowflakes falling on a cabin. But when you are …
Bookmark this website (www.jeffkoonsversailles.com) for those five minutes when your younger child needs to sit in your office while you finish one last thing. In 2009, Versailles hosted an exhibition of artworks by Jeff Koons and made this website. I love the homepage more than I like Jeff Koons’ work. A horizontal line of images of …
Ugo Schildge’s cogwheels are mesmerizing. He makes paintings with them and uses them as metaphors to think about time, human nature, and the need for adjustments. The broken and spinning images are enthralling. The squeaks and thuds keep the experience real. We chilled out to these videos during a break. Now, we might need to paint or put …
This is the memory game we own because it is about art (knew that was coming). Sometimes it can be easier to sneak art into the home than to chase young children through a museum (or drag older ones). This publisher also makes versions that feature Eames, Girard, Hruby, and Harper. But I prefer the Modern Art version because it introduces them …
“Go Fish” is a classic card game and a rite of passage into family game nights. You can “go fish” for fish, animals, princesses, letters, but why not fish for art? We enjoy this “Go Fish” edition by Birdcage Press. I like that it includes multiple works by each artist. In the future, it will allow the game to be a more active lesson about the …
The Master Sculptz is a 3D puzzle that really brings out my children’s imagination. Similar to models and puzzles, this toy challenges kids to solve problems, but there is no right answer. As they build, they are inventing stories and places. They can fit the pieces together any way they want and tell me where the piece should go. The …