Italy is well known for its art, and so we had to study Michelangelo. We started by reading Michelangelo by Mike Venezia. The book was wonderful – it was basically a child-friendly biography of the artist that included many photographs of his most famous works. Being fascinated with the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel, we looked at more photographs online for more information. We then decided to put our newfound knowledge to use.
We got out a small folding table that had a flat underside. I measured a large piece of easel paper so that it would cover the entire bottom of the paper and used masking tape to fasten it to the table.
Each child chose a few colors of paint, and after giving them large brushes, they set to work on their masterpiece.
My Big Helper painted Jesus’ face (the pink and purple spotch) and a church (seen as the triangular outline with the pink cross on top). My Little Man painted a fire, of course.
When it had dried, we removed the paper and taped it to the ceiling in the kitchen. Seeing those bright colors upon entering the room definitely added color to our otherwise rather plain room!
The kids were proud of their work and decided by the end that Michelangelo must have had very strong arms because it was hard work to paint over one’s head!
What creative projects have your children done lately??
