How to Easily Start Art History for Kids

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Art History for Kids: The Studio

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Art history for kids is something you’d think was easy to do.

Grab a book, read about an artist, and complete a project or two. Then why isn’t it this simple?

Perhaps because you actually have to find the books, choose the artist, then figure out a project to go along with the art history lesson. And that’s not including actually figuring out what supplies you’re going to need!

Surely there must be a better solution.

So I’ve kept my eye out over the years for an easy solution to teaching art history for kids.

I wanted a program that:

  • Gave me a monthly art appreciation topic
  • Adaptable lessons so I could teach all my kids
  • Easy and fun projects
  • Didn’t involve risking my laptop near paints, clay, and water
  • Was open and go

And guess what, that’s exactly what Art History Kids’ Studio provides!

fascinating monthly art lessons your kids will love

Each month has a different monthly topic! This month we’re learning all about the Cave Paintings: Art From Prehistoric Times. Previous months have covered:

  • Adventures in Abstraction
  • Branching Out: Three Styles of Trees in Art
  • Pointillism in the Park
  • The Women of Abstract Expressionism
  • A Moment in Time: The Great Wave
  • Sensational Self-Portraits
  • And more!

Each topic includes 4-5 weekly lessons for the month. And the lessons are PDFs! Just print the lesson, stick it in your homeschool binder and you’re ready to go.

studying self-portraits

Easy Art Appreciation Lessons

And the lessons are complete. You start with about a page of information to read to your kids or let your children read to themselves. And if you want to follow a rabbit trail, at the back of the PDF are some recommended books to read!

I found there was enough information for high school students, especially with the extra recommended books. You can also give young early elementary kids a brief overview before jumping straight into the project.

Next, there were several pages of artwork along with discussion questions towards the back.

And it was awesome having them printed on individual pages. I was able to pass a page or two to each child while keeping the discussion questions for myself.

studying a cave painting

The kids weren’t fighting and arguing overseeing the pictures in the book! We simply passed the pages around as needed until everyone had studied and discussed the artwork to their hearts’ content.

I don’t have to worry about the pages getting splattered with paint, juice, or coffee!

adding a personal touch to the cave paintings

At the back of the PDF, you find a list of art supplies and an art project for the week!

And the Studio includes even more!

  • Forums
  • Videos which include
    • Printmaking Techniques
    • Charcoal and Newsprint Demo
    • Monet Question & Answer
    • Etc.
  • 2019 Printable Calendar
  • Museum Trip Planner
  • Supply List
  • Tips for Leading Art Discussions
  • And a Welcome Guide so you don’t miss anything!

Homeschool Art Curriculum

Since we’re studying the ancients in history right now, I thought the January Cave Painting lessons were timely! Especially as my youngest loves painting animals right now.

So I printed the Cave Painting PDF and dove into a lesson with my youngest two kids.

Cave Paintings

I read the lesson to the kids while they looked at the artwork. We talked about the artwork for a few minutes and the discussion questions were super helpful.

What do you see in this picture?

Why do you think the artists painted in this hidden place?

Describe the colors here. What colors are missing?

What animals can you identify?

Of course, the kids, being 8 and 9, didn’t want to spend hours pondering the artwork. They wanted to make their own!

So we quickly moved on to the art project which included a quick lesson on contour lines. Charcoal and black crayons were recommended for drawing the contour lines. However, my kids had their own plans: colored pencils or paint.

My daughter cheerfully grabbed her colored pencils and a white sheet of paper to draw happy rabbits.

drawing happy rabbits with contour lines

My son carefully painted a tiger on a paper bag!

painting a tiger on a paper bag

I couldn’t believe how easy the lessons were to prepare and run through with the kids. And I can’t wait for the next lesson on Cave Paintings next week!

Check out Art History Kids’ Studio for yourself!

Purchase your Art History Kids Studio Membership here!

art history for kids