By Valerie Kerwin
Children
of any age love an excuse to wear costumes, so wearing an outfit
like in a famous painting makes dressing up both educational as well as
enjoyable. Preschool teachers have used prop boxes for role playing
and I adapted the idea for my art room in the YMCA after-school program.
I began by choosing a variety of portraits from my collection of art
postcards. A wide selection of cards gave me some choice when scouting around
for appropriate apparel. Beginning in my own closets I found some things
Also, friends, neighbors, relatives and preschool teachers are good sources
for borrowing clothing. When all of the free possibilities were exhausted,
then it was off to garage sales, nearly new, and consignment shops to find
anything extra that would be close to the originals.
"L'Homme AuGant" by Titian
After collecting the clothes and appropriate miscellaneous items to begin
the activity, I displayed the copies of the famous paintings This activity
was designed to be used in a center in my classroom, so when a new group
of children arrived I explained how to use the center and the importance
of putting the costumes away in the correct box. After they had fun exploring
the possibilities I began taking pictures of them in the outfit of their
choice. Rather than trying to capture the idea of the backgrounds, I just
posed them in front of a neutral backdrop. It was the responsibility of
the children and their friends to get themselves in best position to imitate
the original model in the painting.
Interest in the activity increased as these pictures were displayed
along with the original next to it. Most photo developing places have the
option of double prints these days, so because I wanted to display the pictures
and give the children one of their own, I got two of each print. Interest
in the activity increased as these pictures were displayed along with the
original next to it. I Xeroxed the original paintings and gave each child
his or her picture and the famous art work that he or she was copying to
take home. What a special treat to have your picture look just like the
Mona Lisa or The Postman Roulin.
All of the pictures turned out so wonderfully that I wanted all the parents
and other staff and patrons to see them. When this month designated "Dress-up
Month" was spent, I took all the children's pictures of a particular painting
and put them on a 11 by 18 colored paper with the corresponding Art Card,
and posted them all in a prominent place in the hall. Everyone was thrilled
to see themselves and others and to try to decide who looked the most like
the Toulouse LaTrec poster, or who looked the most like the Degas Dancers.
 |
 |
"The Mona Lisa"
by Leonardo
DaVinci |
"The Postman Roulin"
by Van Gogh |
Monet's "Woman With a Parasol"
Valerie Kerwin teaches children's art in an after school program at the
YMCA in Sarasota, Florida. Questions, suggestions, or comments are
welcome by mailing
to
JohnandVal@aol.com
