An Engaging Art Museum Activity for Kids

Here’s an engaging art museum activity that’s perfect for kids of any age. It’s low-cost, low-prep, and guaranteed to get kids talking!

Last weekend I was thrilled to visit the Baltimore Museum of Art. (The BMA has the largest collection of works by Henri Mattisse – in the world! But more on that another time!)

In honor of Valentine’s Day, they were giving out these paper HEARTS for people (adults, kids, anyone) to leave below their favorite artwork. I was immediately inspired!

How fun (and easy) would it be to do an art museum activity like this with kids?!

On your next museum visit with children in tow, give each child two hearts as you go in. Tell them to leave one heart below a work of art that they love. (With permission from museum staff, of course!) Then write the name of the piece, the artist’s name, and why they chose it on the other.

Remind them to carefully consider why they’re choosing the piece they’re choosing so they can share about that later.

Then, when you get back home (or back to school), ask each child where they left their heart and why! This should inspire some interesting discussions about all things art-related. With the name of the artist and title of the artwork, you could also google it and have the image right there as you discuss it.

You could suggest some art vocabulary for kids to use in their responses. Ask for examples of how the Elements of Art (line, shape, form, space, texture, value, and color) and Principles of Design (balance, emphasis, movement, pattern, proportion, variety, and unity) were used in each piece.

From there, you could talk about how the piece each child chose made them feel. Talk about why a piece of art might resonate more with some people than it does with others.

The opportunities for discussion are endless. This activity could work with any age, or even with mixed ages together.

Try this heart-felt art museum activity and let us know how it went in the comments below!