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Core Skills for Visual Arts

Click on the skills below to see what you can do at home to help your child develop essential art skills.

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• Identify and use different lines: straight, zigzag, curved, wavy, thick, thin (show details)

  Sample Core Knowledge Activities

  99 ¢		Silly Snails Expert Created Activity Support your child's ability to identify and use different lines (e.g., straight, zigzig, curved, etc.), while fostering fine motor skills with this snail decorating activity
  FREE		Three Beetles Expert Created Activity Support your child's ability to identify and use different lines (e.g., straight, zigzig, curved, etc.), while fostering fine motor skills with this beetle decorating activity

  Sample Activities

  FREE		Circles in the Sand Parent Created Activity Looking for something new and different to encourage learning while playing outside with your child? Create your own "learning board" out of sand. If you do not have a ...more sandbox, purchase some sand and place it in a large, flat container like a baking pan. Help your child collect small items from around the yard. Use each item to press into or drag across the sand. Talk about the kind of impression or design each item makes. Older children can practice drawing ABCs or numbers using their fingers or small sticks. Wet sand can also be used for longer-lasting impressions. (less)
  FREE		Share a Drawing Parent Created Activity Take turns drawing with your child. One person begins by drawing a line, squiggle, zig-zag, circle, square, etc. The next person adds a line, squiggle, etc. Drawing ...more continues with each person taking a turn. When you're finished, color in the drawing. It's more fun if you sit facing each other so you have different views of the drawing. (less)

  Sample Books and Toys

  $19.99		Toy	Doodles This whopper of a book is just the answer for an entire rainy season's worth of cries of "I'm bored!" The author of some of our most treasured books ...more (including My Friends and the old standard Everyone Poops) offers almost 400 pages geared toward getting your kids to imagine, draw and create. There are pictures for them to finish, scenes for them to sketch out, visualization games and more engaging, drawing-related prompts than we can possibly describe. It is a perfect choice for a child who can't get enough of the art room at preschool -- and this book won't make a mess at home! (Also, check out Scribbles: A Really Giant Drawing and Coloring Book, the companion book to Doodles.) (less) Review provided by The Savvy Source
  $169.99		Toy	My Creative Center The perfect art table for a young artist or two! Comes with 2 benches, paper roll holder and an 18? x 75? roll of white drawing paper, paper cutter, canvas ...more storage bag and 2 recessed cup holes for the 2 cups that keep markers, crayons and brushes tidy. Tabletop is also a chalkboard. Table measures 49? W x 29.5?D x 18?H. Benches measure: 23.5? W x 10? D x 11? H. Assembles easily with the included tool. Ages 3 yrs. and up. (less) Review provided by Amazon

  

• Observe how colors can create different feelings and how certain colors can seem "warm" (red, orange, yellow) and other can seem "cool" (blue, green, purple) (show details)

  Sample Core Knowledge Activities

  99 ¢

  Warm or Cold? Expert Created Activity Use the pictures on this workbook page to support your child's understanding of how certain colors can create different feelings of warmth or coolness.

  Sample Activities

  FREE		Cool Ice Cube Painting Parent Created Activity During this activity, help your child to observe how colors can create different feelings and how certain colors can seem "cool" (blue, green, purple). Sprinkle a small amount (about ...more 1 Tbsp.) of "cool" colored powdered tempera paints such as purple, blue and green, on any light colored construction or thick paper. Have your child paint a cool, blue ocean by using an ice cube as their "paintbrush" and mixing the colors together on the paper as the ice melts. It may be helpful to place the paper in a short box or on a tray with short sides to avoid dripping from the melting ice cube (tops of printer paper boxes work great). (less)
  FREE		All Things Green Parent Created Activity Cut out pictures from magazines of things that are green. Paste them onto a piece of cardboard to make a collage. This is a great way to introduce your child ...more to new vocabulary words and, of course, to reinforce color recognition. To add a textural element, glue things like leaves, lima beans, green pasta, etc. (less)

  Sample Books and Toys

  $169.99		Toy	My Creative Center The perfect art table for a young artist or two! Comes with 2 benches, paper roll holder and an 18? x 75? roll of white drawing paper, paper cutter, canvas ...more storage bag and 2 recessed cup holes for the 2 cups that keep markers, crayons and brushes tidy. Tabletop is also a chalkboard. Table measures 49? W x 29.5?D x 18?H. Benches measure: 23.5? W x 10? D x 11? H. Assembles easily with the included tool. Ages 3 yrs. and up. (less) Review provided by Amazon
  $99.99		Toy	SparkArt Easel As intriguing as so many of the electronic learning toys seem, it's always a niggling little concern that your child doesn't seem to be doing much other than sitting there ...more while the machine beeps and trills along. Well, leave it to the old favorite Fisher Price to change all that. The SparkArt easel has all of the charms of a traditional easel . three height settings and a nice, wide drawing space for your child's imagination to run wild with six colored dry-erase markers and an eraser, plus storage space for everything. But this gem of a toy actually engages the little one, and gives an interactive push to inspire your little artist! Using optical reader technology, the Inspiration Pen reads hidden codes on the various accessories (scene starter backgrounds like coloring books, color by sound activity pages, magnets, etc.) and then the Inspiration Pod .magically. responds with over 600 interactive voice prompts and sounds. So, when your child turns on the play mode, the voice might say .Let's draw something yellow!' or .Let's draw something that goes vroooooom, vroooooom!' and then your artist takes it from there. It's not quite as enchanting as a subtly whispering muse, but then subtlety might wait for a few years. Batteries are required, and there are various additional add-on kits for themed backgrounds, etc, that you may wish to include as well. (less) Review provided by The Savvy Source

  

• Attend to visual detail of objects and images (e.g., play games requiring matching of like images such as dominoes, identify the color of objects from nature when not in view (sky-blue). (show details)

  Sample Core Knowledge Activities

  99 ¢		I Spy Expert Created Activity Support your child's attention to visual detail as you play this game of I Spy.
  99 ¢		Just Add Color Expert Created Activity Support your child's attention to visual detail as she colors this coloring page.

  Sample Activities

  FREE		Sunflower Still Lifes Parent Created Activity Put one or two sunflowers in a vase. Provide your child with green and yellow paint and brushes, and ask him/her to paint a picture of the sunflower(s). ...more Sunflowers are big and impressive and remarkably easy to paint. Even a child with beginning art skills can succeed at painting a beautiful still life. (less)
  FREE		Shoebox Diorama Parent Created Activity Almost all kids have little plastic animal figurines. This project gives your child something new to do with them. Take some old magazines and catalogs, and cut out ...more pictures of scenery -- mountain ranges, jungles, forests, etc. Alternatively, your child can draw his or her own scenery. Then glue your scene to the bottom of the inside of a shoebox, and turn the box on its side so that the image is facing out. Your child can then take her little animals and create a scene. This is a great project for an afternoon after you've visited the natural history museum. You can also, if you're really creative, use pom-poms, popsicle sticks, and pipe cleaners to create rocks, trees, flowers, and other scenic elements for your diorama. (less)

  Sample Books and Toys

  $19.99		Toy	Doodles This whopper of a book is just the answer for an entire rainy season's worth of cries of "I'm bored!" The author of some of our most treasured books ...more (including My Friends and the old standard Everyone Poops) offers almost 400 pages geared toward getting your kids to imagine, draw and create. There are pictures for them to finish, scenes for them to sketch out, visualization games and more engaging, drawing-related prompts than we can possibly describe. It is a perfect choice for a child who can't get enough of the art room at preschool -- and this book won't make a mess at home! (Also, check out Scribbles: A Really Giant Drawing and Coloring Book, the companion book to Doodles.) (less) Review provided by The Savvy Source
  $16.99		Toy	Tea Party Game Perhaps your little one needs a refresher course on the basics of tea party etiquette. Or perhaps she and her friends are so enamored of their f?s that they just ...more want to relive them. In either case, this game is darling. Take a spin and try to collect a full spread - cup, plate, sandwich, fruit and dessert. If you are stuck inside on a rainy day, there are even imaginary bees to watch out for - so every tea party your little one throws can be a sunny one! (less) Review provided by The Savvy Source

  

• Explore and create, using various art forms, media and techniques (e.g., tear, fold, paste, tape, etc.) (show details)

  Sample Core Knowledge Activities

  99 ¢		My Favorites Expert Created Activity Support your child's creativity and fine motor skills as you use magazines to create a collage for this activity.
  99 ¢		Taking A Hike Expert Created Activity Support your child's creativity, fine motor skills, and early writing strokes with this activity that has him drawing canes for the hikers.

  Sample Activities

  FREE		Spider Webs Parent Created Activity Create your own spider webs to hang from the ceiling! Prepare 1 cup cooked spaghetti noodles and let them cool. Then pour some glue into a bowl. ...more Have your child dip each noodle into the glue and place it on wax paper. Repeat with all the noodles, forming a cobweb design. Once the glue has dried, remove the "web" from the wax paper. You now have a your very own creepy (but also fun!) homemade spider web to hang in the corners of your "haunted" house. (less)
  FREE		Paper Plate Spiders Parent Created Activity Create some homemade spiders this Halloween. Have your child draw spider faces on paper plates. Then cut strips of black construction paper for the legs. Have your ...more child help you glue them onto the back of the paper plate. This craft is a great way to make Halloween fun and silly for the littlest ones. (less)

  Sample Books and Toys

  $19.99		Toy	Doodles This whopper of a book is just the answer for an entire rainy season's worth of cries of "I'm bored!" The author of some of our most treasured books ...more (including My Friends and the old standard Everyone Poops) offers almost 400 pages geared toward getting your kids to imagine, draw and create. There are pictures for them to finish, scenes for them to sketch out, visualization games and more engaging, drawing-related prompts than we can possibly describe. It is a perfect choice for a child who can't get enough of the art room at preschool -- and this book won't make a mess at home! (Also, check out Scribbles: A Really Giant Drawing and Coloring Book, the companion book to Doodles.) (less) Review provided by The Savvy Source
  $169.99		Toy	My Creative Center The perfect art table for a young artist or two! Comes with 2 benches, paper roll holder and an 18? x 75? roll of white drawing paper, paper cutter, canvas ...more storage bag and 2 recessed cup holes for the 2 cups that keep markers, crayons and brushes tidy. Tabletop is also a chalkboard. Table measures 49? W x 29.5?D x 18?H. Benches measure: 23.5? W x 10? D x 11? H. Assembles easily with the included tool. Ages 3 yrs. and up. (less) Review provided by Amazon

  

• Develop an appreciation for art (show details)

  Sample Core Knowledge Activities

  99 ¢		Make A Snail Expert Created Activity Support your child's appreciation of art as she create's a snail collage in the style of Henri Matisse's Snail. For a photo of Mattise's Snail, see http://www.henry-matisse.com/snail.html
  99 ¢		Imagine If Expert Created Activity Support your child's ability to assume a different role and express a variety of possibilities as you Imagine if...with these guiding pictures and prompts.

  Sample Activities

  FREE		Sponge Painting Parent Created Activity Cut several sponges into simple shapes: rectangles, triangles, circles, squares. You can get fancy and make a few stars or fish too! Use the sponges to ...more dip into children's poster paint and sponge away on heavy set paper. You can create patterns, objects made from your shapes... Just remember to put on the smock! (less)
  FREE		Museum I Spy Parent Created Activity Every time we go to the art museum, we always play I Spy. We bring an art book or two (or when traveling abroad, we make color copies from ...more books of the paintings that are housed at the museum we plan to visit) and review the paintings we're going to search for. Then, when entering a gallery, the kids are looking for something specific. When they're older, the game becomes more general - they have a copy of a Degas or Monet, and they have to find another by the same artist. Another twist for the really young ones is to play "I Spy" in a gallery -- looking for a painting by an artist, of something in particular, using certain color combinations, etc. (less)

  Sample Books and Toys

  $19.99		Toy	Doodles This whopper of a book is just the answer for an entire rainy season's worth of cries of "I'm bored!" The author of some of our most treasured books ...more (including My Friends and the old standard Everyone Poops) offers almost 400 pages geared toward getting your kids to imagine, draw and create. There are pictures for them to finish, scenes for them to sketch out, visualization games and more engaging, drawing-related prompts than we can possibly describe. It is a perfect choice for a child who can't get enough of the art room at preschool -- and this book won't make a mess at home! (Also, check out Scribbles: A Really Giant Drawing and Coloring Book, the companion book to Doodles.) (less) Review provided by The Savvy Source
  $169.99		Toy	My Creative Center The perfect art table for a young artist or two! Comes with 2 benches, paper roll holder and an 18? x 75? roll of white drawing paper, paper cutter, canvas ...more storage bag and 2 recessed cup holes for the 2 cups that keep markers, crayons and brushes tidy. Tabletop is also a chalkboard. Table measures 49? W x 29.5?D x 18?H. Benches measure: 23.5? W x 10? D x 11? H. Assembles easily with the included tool. Ages 3 yrs. and up. (less) Review provided by Amazon

  

• Observe and talk about art (e.g., first impressions, what the picture makes the child think and feel, lines and colors, etc.) (show details)

  Sample Books and Toys

  $6.95		Toy	On An Island with Gauguin
  $6.99		Toy	Katie Meets the Impressionists "This British import pays joyful homage to the world of the Impressionists. When Katie and her grandmother visit an art museum to celebrate the elder's birthday, the girl wanders into ...more a gallery where she admires Claude Monet's The Luncheon.... With a blink of her eyes, Katie is magically transported into the painting... Lovely watercolors emulate the style of the Impressionists... Not only does this delightful fantasy succeed as art education, but it's a charming story as well." --School Library Journal (less) Review provided by Amazon