The Usborne Art Treasury – a Review.

We do Art History about once a week: On a Monday a new painting goes onto a book stand and stands open for the rest of the week to be looked at and mulled over. Usually on a Friday once our bookwork is done we bring out a few materials that link to the art and we spend about twenty minutes recreating our own project relating to the great artwork… thats it. I pack up the project and leave them to play and experiment with the paints or pastels or whatever… usually lots of glue and sticking!!! But I recently found a book that does the project idea for me…

Oh Rosie Dickens please do some more of the same… As you know – anything Usborne- is simply divine!!! And the Art Treasury by Rosie Dickins is no different. In the post, Se7en of the Best Art Appreciation Resources for Kids I mentioned this book and that I would review it later on… well here it is: Lovely, Lovely, Lovely. Full of bright color pictures, snippets on great artists and their works, followed by really simple projects that kids can do themselves, with great results.

So here we go se7en projects inspired by this book and the associated page in a Hoods journal. If you don’t have telescopic vision and you would like to see what they have written then just click on the picture.

• Project 1: The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.

  Swirly, whirly painting with thick paint:

  

  In Hood#2’s Journal (Grade 3):    
   

  

• Project 2: The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai.

  Printing with bubble wrap.                 

  

  In Hood#1’s Journal (Grade 5):

  

• Project 3: A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle by Hendrick Avercamp.

  Blow painting trees.

               

  In Hood#3’s Journal (Grade 1):

  

• Project 4: Punchinello with a Guitar by Pablo Picasso.

  Collage clowns.

  

  In Hood#2’s Journal (Grade 3):

  

• Project 5: African Masks by Traditional Artists.

  Cardboard Masks.
            

  

  In Hood#3’s Journal (Grade 1):     

  

• Project 6: Squares with Concentric Circles by Vassily Kandinksky 

  Oil pastels and inks.
                   

    

  In Hood#4’s Journal (Grade Pre-K):

  

• Project 7: The Square by Alberto Giacometti

  Pipe cleaner people in foil.
                   

  

  In Hood#1’s Journal (Grade 5):