Teaching art history to children involves teaching them the creativity of the human being, how they have met their needs over time, a world where each culture expresses its moment. Know the history of art It involves knowing the culture of a specific place and time.
And, furthermore, art is much more, with art We learn to express ourselves, we learn about mathematics, fine arts, mythology, architecture, cinema, music, carpentry, masonry... Art history is multidisciplinary and with it we learn about the world and humans.
How to teach art history to children?
So far it has been clear that art history is much more than seeing a painting, but how can we teach art history to children? A fundamental thing before any subject that we want our children to learn is Let them see that we dedicate time to that matter. We have a very good example in reading, if our children see us with books, sooner or later they will imitate us, if they see us watching TV they will also see it and a long etcetera.
Therefore if we travel and We see temples, monuments, architecture, sculptures, if we listen to a variety of music at home (not just current ones), if we watch movies, series, if we read books that talk about art... We will be taking an important step so that our children learn everything related to the history of art.
Bring children closer to art history
Learn about the history of nearby art
It is possible that we like art, we like to travel, but we do not do it as much as we would like... getting closer to the history of art sometimes does not imply traveling to other places, we can still traveling through our own city or town, telling our children the history of the place where we live. The reason for the monuments there are, surely there are sculptures with history behind them, castles, medieval walls, towers, museums, Roman towns, Celtiberians, Jewish quarters, dinosaurs... Better to start by walking our streets to see the history behind the architecture.
At the same time, we can turn this experience of getting to know the place where we live into an adventure, for example, learn what Romanesque or Gothic art is and then, going around, recognize that aesthetic, or Mudejar art, or Islamic art, or baroque art, or modernist art... whatever we have where we live. And if we can accompany all that legends, even better.
Learn to create art
Maybe our children have interest in some type of art: music, painting, sculpture, etc. If we notice this interest we can always encourage it, sign it up for classes, or help them work on it at home if we have knowledge of that specific art. This way they will learn to express themselves, to create, and to know what is behind the works, how they are made.
Books, movies and series
The books, adapted to the age of our children or not, are a great tool. Books about art are full of images that we can show and comment on to our children.
There are movies and series about outstanding artists, about specific periods like the medieval one where you can see recreations of those times, anything that brings us closer to the culture of a civilization is helping to create interest in the history of art.
Legends and myths
Legends and myths have been great protagonists throughout the history of art. If our children like stories, we can tell them legends and myths (always taking into account that they are appropriate for their age). We can accompany these stories with images that are works of art. For example, we can see a work of art about Greek mythology and, based on the painting, tell the legend that is reflected there.
Museums and guided tours
Museums and taking guided tours are another perfect way for children to learn about an unfamiliar place. There is a lot of options and there are always good professionals prepared to tell the history of a place and explain its art to people interested in knowing it. Choose, however, these sites according to the interests of the little onesMaybe... a paleontological museum? or maybe you prefer a gallery.
Poco a poco As we create that taste for art we can expand to other styles, places and cultures to enrich the art history education of our children.