• Art is all a lot of things. People often mistake art as simply being a pretty picture, but it holds a lot of meaning in a small, three-letter word. When thinking about visual art, there are some pretty important things to remember: observation, planning, creation, problem solving, presenting,  practice, but most importantly, play.  Below are some activities you and your students can do at home to help your learner grow. 

    Observation:

    Take a good look around you for a minute. Have a paper and pencil ready. When a minute is up, look only at your paper and see how many things you remember (write or draw). Look up and see how much you remembered and how much you did not. 

    Take an object and put it on a table in front of you. Draw it how you see it. 

    Planning:

    Brainstorm how an animal would see (draw from its point of view). Draw as many practice versions as you need.

    Make a comic strip.

    Creation:

    Take any sketches/practice drawings and draw them nicely and neatly. Color in fully. If making a 3d artwork, make sure it fits together and does not fall apart.

    Problem Solving:

    You have a piece of paper. You want to make an artwork, but there is nothing to draw with. How are you going to make that artwork? 

    Presentation:

    Show off your artwork to your family/friends. Remember to talk about why you made it, the steps it took, the materials you used, and what it is about. Don't be afraid to take questions and comments.

    Practice:

    You can practice drawing lines, shapes, and objects. When you finish on one page, make it a nonobjective design or a doodle.  

    Play:

    Take a new material and make something out of it.

    Doodle on a surface no one wants (old cardboard box, napkin, plastic bag) and discover how easy or difficult it is

    Draw something (doodle or object) without picking up your pencils for at least 5 minutes

    Mix colors (food dye, color pencils, markers, paint, anything that will work)

    Look up at the ceiling and see what kind of things you see (like looking up at the clouds and seeing an ice cream cone)

    Braid someone's hair

    Try weaving (over under over under, under over under over, over under over under)

    Go back to the basics:

    Make a color wheel out of objects found around your house and take a picture of the finished work

    If you have a camera (phone or otherwise) try to take photos of that look like letters of the alphabet