Looking at Paintings is a fun and informative introduction to the techniques and history of painting for children of all ages. Featuring renowned works of art from London's famed National Gallery, Looking at Paintings has an authoritative text written by experts as well as history adventures and scenarios depicted by Disney graphic artists. The book enlists a great friend of children everywhere - Mickey Mouse - to help kids discover the extraordinary experience of visiting the National Gallery. Mickey and his friends deftly guide young readers through the book as they learn more about fine art and the history of art.

DisneyHand and Disney Publishing Worldwide are delighted to provide classroom activity and project suggestions below for students in grades 2-4 and grades 5-6 that correspond with Looking at Paintings. Have fun with your students as they learn more about art!

For more information on Disney: Looking at Paintings, please click here.

Activities and Projects for Students in Grades 2 - 4
According to Looking at Paintings, "pictures are a good way to make stories come alive" (p.22). Luca Giordano's "Perseus Turning Phineas and His Followers to Stone" illustrates a dramatic moment of an ancient myth (p.23). Have each of your students create a "picture story!" Assign a story to the entire class, or have each student choose a story on his or her own. Students should paint or draw a picture of the story on one sheet of paper. Then, have them write the story in their own words and attach their interpretation to their piece of art. Display each student's "picture story" on a special bulletin board.

Create a one-of-a-kind classroom mural! A mural is defined as "a large picture either painted directly on a wall or wall-sized" (p.157). Keep in mind the themes from the book as you and your students determine the subject of the mural and how you want to portray it (for instance, size, shape, colors, and point of view are all important). Then, choose the foundation of the mural (suggestion: a long sheet of craft paper works well as a surface). Let your students paint, draw or color their mural. For inspiration, see the wall painting "The Gardens of Nebamun" on p.92. Once completed, hang your classroom's mural in a prominent space either in your room or the hallway of your school.

Experiment with homemade paints! According to Looking at Paintings (p.138), artists of the past used colored earth, metals, and precious stones, among other things, to make their paints. Consult the following examples in the book for inspiration: the cave paintings on p.42; or for color ideas, try Marc Chagall's "I and the Village" (p.95); or Henri Rousseau's "Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)" (p. 115). How would your students make their own paints? Encourage them to be creative. Assemble their suggested materials (some ideas: milk; food coloring; crushed fruit, such as blueberries and strawberries; condiments, such as mustard and ketchup; dirt; and sand) and have them mix the materials into "paints" with water or other liquids. Then, have a painting session to try out some of their ideas. Do some homemade paints work better than others?

Creating a collage is a fun way for each student to express their individuality. Picasso and Matisse both experimented with collages, but with very different results (see pp. 146-147 in Looking at Paintings). Provide your students with scraps of everyday materials (suggestions: construction paper, pages of newspapers and magazines, wrapping paper, pieces of felt, foam, and cardboard, etc.), a pair of scissors, and some glue or glue sticks. Let them go to work assembling their collages on pieces of paper. The results may surprise you!

Poll your students about the artwork in their homes. Are there paintings, photographs, posters, postcards or other forms of artwork hanging or displayed in their home? Ask your students why they think people want pictures in their homes (see Chapter 1). Then, have each student find out how and why certain artwork was chosen for their homes. Have a discussion about each student's family artwork in class.

Artists from the past oftentimes scratched at their paintings to reveal colors hidden underneath, oftentimes known as the "scratchboard" technique (see p. 137). Your students can do the same. Have students color an entire piece of paper with multicolored crayons. Then, paint over the same sheet of paper with a thick layer of black paint (or another dark color). Allow the paint to dry. Afterwards, the students can create a design of their choice by scratching through the dry layer of paint with a wooden toothpick (or something similar) to reveal the crayon colors underneath.

Activities and Projects for Students in Grades 5 & 6
Renowned American artist Jackson Pollack practiced a technique called "action painting" to create his artwork (see pages 34-35). Ask your students to pretend that they are Jackson Pollack for the day and have them come up with their own method of "action painting". Choose a large sheet of paper (a roll of brown craft paper or white easel paper works well). Be sure to choose washable paints for your action painting session. Make sure your students wear a smock or old clothing when they are painting, and do the action painting in a space where there's plenty of room to move around (and where making a temporary mess is not a problem!)

Artwork from many different periods of time is represented in Looking at Paintings. In the book, students can examine everything from cave paintings in 15,000 BC all the way to modern art from the 20th century. Assign individual students or teams of students periods of times covered in the book (examples: BC, 1300's, 1500's, 1600's, 1800's and 1900's). Have your students identify and examine the artwork in Looking at Paintings that is appropriate for their assigned periods of time. Then, instruct the students to conduct further research at the library or on the internet about the artwork from their period of time. Each student or team of students should prepare a short presentation about the artwork addressing questions like: What was life like during that century/time? How did what was happening at the time affect the art created during the time period?

Find out more about artists! Have each student choose an artist featured in Looking at Paintings. Consult the list of artists featured in the book for ideas (located on the front inside pages). Ask students to carefully study each artist's work while researching the artist at the library or on the internet. Students can then share their findings with the class.

Looking at Paintings contains a great deal of information about significant artists and artwork. Put together a "Jeopardy" type of game based on the information in the book. Select a moderator and contestants, and create categories that correspond with the chapters in the book, such as materials, colors, and shapes. The moderator provides the clues, while the contestants race to provide the correct answers! Everyone will have fun learning as they play!

Talk about the concepts of light and dark, sizes and color in paintings and other artwork with your class (consult Chapter 5 in Looking at Paintings.) Assign each student a specific principle (either light and dark, sizes or color). Then, ask your students to find examples of artwork that effectively use each principle in everyday items they have at home (some examples: newspapers, magazines, cereal or other food boxes, etc.) Share each student's findings with the class.

Encourage your students to open their eyes to art. Challenge them to find places where artwork is displayed in their city or town, other than in galleries or museums. Pose the question "Is artwork all around us?" to your students, and see what they discover.

Portraits are featured throughout Looking at Paintings (see pp. 12,16,17,32-33, 45 and 125). One of the most famous portraits in the world, Leonardo Da Vinci's "Portrait of Mona Lisa," is highlighted in the book (pages 106-109). Have each of your students carefully study the Mona Lisa. Then, in the spirit of the Mona Lisa, ask your students to paint or draw a portrait of another classmate. Choose one student to pose for the class, and instruct the remainder of the class to render his or her portrait. Give the students a set amount of time to do the portraits (say, 15 minutes). When everyone is finished, share the completed portraits. Did your students find this exercise simple or difficult? How similar or different did the portraits turn out?

Additional Resources
The National Gallery of London
The National Gallery, Washington, DC
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City