A Year in Art: The Activity Book

We bought this originally at an art museum. I had hoped it would be a good way to introduce art "history" to my 5 year old. I thought it might be a bit too over her head, but the activities in it appeared to be appealing for kids. I wasn't wrong. The book is set up to do about one activity a day (sometimes it's an activity over 2 days). None of them are overly difficult or over-involved. They follow the calendar, so whatever day you start, you'll be able to follow along each day. We tried doing it by following the calendar, but of course, life gets in the way so you can't really do one activity each day (perhaps if you're homeschooling, that would work great). But my daughter enjoyed it so much, she would sit down and do several days at one time. So we just let her do it whenever she wanted. She has started recognizing the names of a lot of the artists. Sometimes there are several artworks throughout the book, and she'll say, "oh, there's a painting earlier in the book by this artist" and then look for it. If we go to an art museum or she reads books based on artists (like the Anholt's Artist books for children--which I also highly recommend) it strengthens her recognition of the artists she learns about in this book. Some of the activities are just looking for items in a painting (like "I Spy"), or make a mosaic like the one in the photo, or finish the painting, what is this girl thinking about, etc. We like it so much we bought this as a gift for her friend and will add it to our "regular gift" list. Highly recommend it for introducing various art forms, art history, critical thinking, and just plain fun.

I love this book, its simple, full of observation exercises and activities, if you teach art this book it's perfect to improve creativity and imagination, you have to use your own creativity of course, but this book it's the perfect guide.

Overall great content, unfortunately it came broken, the book itself is not bound very smartly.

This book is really amazing. I think the editor is so good ; we are so amazed by such a great collection. The paper quality is also very good so that all great art show very well. Also fun activity to both child and parent. My sister who studied art even bought this for het self after looking though it. And I bought for my little niece, too!!

I am using this excellent book with my four-year-old granddaughter. She loves coloring the pictures and discussing the paintings. She looks forward to the I-Spy activities. This is a great introduction to the world of art for little ones.

This is a great gift for grandparents!

I was looking for a gift for my 10 year old niece who is artistically inclined. She has lots of paper, markers, etc. and I wanted something to give her a little early art education - but also be fun. This book has beautiful paintings and some fun activities that can be done right in the book like I spys or draw Starry Night in the day time type stuff. I do think it would have been nice if they included more paintings that have subjects appealing to kids like Pre-Raphaelite mythical interpretations. The only Andy Warhol is on the cover - and more animal art would also be more appealing than some of the classical religious themed paintings that are in there. But - I think it will expose her to art that later on she will see again and remember it. The adults at Christmas REALLY loved the book and spent a lot of time looking at it. The best thing is the velvety cat on the cover. It is also a very big book - much bigger than it looks in the picture. 1 foot square - but three inches thick.

I bought this book as a part of art curriculum for my 3rd grader for homeschooling. It is not a book of "all the famous artists/painting" but all of the artists in this book are of great value. The pictures are fun and the little information about the picture or the artist strikes interest too.

Muy satisfecha con la compra, no es el típico libro de actividades que se tira después de repasarlo. Éste se puede volver a leer durante varios años, con dedicar 5 minutos diarios, se les introduce a los niños en el mundo del arte de una forma lúdica y divertida. Yo compré un ejemplar de segunda mano que estaba como nuevo y me salió muy bien de precio. Merece la pena.

A good idea. However, the quality of the print and binding is flimsy. Also, tends to feature mostly european artists. With quite a few feature more than once, but like 3-4 times. I was disappointed to have only 1 maybe 2 artworks from other cultures, even if they boast works in all movements. I'm Russian and there are SO MANY great Russian artists, classical and modern, but there is only one painting. Also, the activities are a bit repetitive and sometimes superficial. I think a book like that should be a binder form. Then again, it can definitely be used every once a while with a child or for an inspiration for artistic activities.

I don't normally praise too highly about things as I expect them to be of good standard. Few things that have pleasantly exceeded my expectation and this book is one of them - it exceeds my expectation by a long way. I bought this book for my 8 year old son, never anticipated that the whole families would be enjoying it, individually as well as together. Couldn't recommend it more highly.

Fenomenal. El vendedor totalmente recomendable. He comprado este lobto para mi aunque al principio esta dedicdo para los niños. A mi me encanta este libro. Aprendes mucho lo del arte en una forma divertida y pintar te ayuda relajarte.

a lovely idea. I like the suggestions for the practical projects and it gives lovely starting points for discussing interesting pieces of art with children.