How to Look at Art with Kids

Take an ArtVenture!

Let your child be your guide as you explore the collections. Open yourself up to discover new things about art and each other.

Here are some fun tips for adults and parents to help you explore art and discover the Museum with your kids. Try this for fun!

KID’S CHOICE

Walk through the Museum and ask your child to pick an object that they want to look at. Then have a conversation with them about why he or she chose this object.

COMPARE & CONTRAST

Choose two objects in the same gallery. Compare and contrast them. What is similar? What is different? What did you discover?

BECOME THE ART

Pretend you are a person or object in the work of art. Act it out. What will you say or do? What sounds will you make? How will you move?

PLAY EYE SPY!

Become an art detective and look closely at a work of art. What small details can you and your child discover? Can you figure out: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?  For each answer your child gives, ask “What do you see that makes you say that?”

THIS REMINDS ME OF…

Find an object that reminds you of something–your family, your house, your pet, a memory, a wish, or anything. Talk with your child about the work of art and why you chose it.

TELL A STORY

Can you find a work of art that tells a story? What is happening in this work of art? Who are the characters? What are they doing? What happened just before? What do you think will happen next?

GOT QUESTIONS?

Questions are a wonderful way to encourage close looking and great conversation. Just dive in–you may learn something new about art and each other!

Need some inspiration? Here are a few questions to get the conversation started.

  • Do you like this work of art? Why or why not?
  • What colors, shapes, and things do you see?
  • What is happening in this picture?
  • What do you see that makes you say that?
  • What else can you find?
  • Does anything you see in this work of art remind you of something in your own life?
  • Is the work of art true to life? How real has the artist made things look?
  • How does it make you feel? Why?
  • What would you have called this artwork?
  • How is it similar or different from the artworks around it?
  • What have you discovered from looking at this work of art?
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