Art for a Rainy Day
It’s raining in the desert! What a gift. And in much of the rest of the country, it’s cold outside, which means most of us are inside today. Here is an activity to keep you occupied creatively while the weather outside does what it will. Let’s call it Art Scramble. While it’s not the first art project we’ve suggested, it is the first where no specific supplies, or alternatives to those supplies, are needed. For this project, gather ALL of your supplies! Take out your paints and glitter and markers and buttons and all of the other interesting things you’ve got in your home, and place them all in the center of your work space. Then, just create!
That’s right – no specific prompt at all. Just make something. No need to plan it out, just let your imagination take over, and see what you end up with. Maybe someone in your family will feel inspired to make a found object sculpture, and someone will make a multimedia portrait, and someone will make something that defies classification. Who knows! Take as much time as you need – after all, it’s raining, and nobody wants to rush when it’s raining.
When everyone is finished, share what you’ve made. If you’re working alongside the young people in your family, try to lead this sharing by being just as vague as the instructions for this project were. This is where the Godly Play method of learning, which we reference often during Family Time, comes in: the objective is to inspire curiosity and wonder, and to let kids figure out what they think and how they feel about things. So instead of saying things like, “What is it supposed to be?” or “What a great [whatever you think it is]!” you can simply say, “Tell us about what you made.” If they need a little more prompting, you can point to a specific element and say, “Tell us about that part of your piece of art.” And then, just listen!
If you find that Art Scramble makes your family excited to see more art, which we of course hope it does, you can follow it up by visiting a museum together – without leaving your home! The folks at MommyPoppins.com have collected links to over 50 cultural attractions that you can visit virtually, including museums like the Louvre and the Guggenheim.
Try approaching the art you see on these tours in a similar way to the art you’ve made: “What do you think of this one?” “How does it make you feel?”
If you make some rainy day art this week, share it with us on our Facebook page! And enjoy the places your imagination can take you – without ever leaving your home.
