Chicago with Kids

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October 14, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 14 Comments

We spent a long weekend in Chicago last April.

The kids have never been to Chicago. Aaron grew up about an hour south of there and Liz and I have been twice with him.

We found an apartment (with a hot tub!) near Guaranteed Rate Field. We were close to the train station, just a few blocks of a walk. There was a huge Mariano’s store, a Kroger affiliate just down the street.

We ate breakfast, then set off to explore each day. We wound down in our hot tub each evening.

Day 1: Chinatown

We drove a couple train stations away to Chinatown and parked near the Nine Dragons Gate. We walked around and bought some tea and looked in windows.

We had the most amazing Mandarin Chinese food I’ve ever eaten at Potsticker House.

Day 2: Cubs Game

We took the train to Wrigley Field.

We got there early to get some cool Cubs gear.

The kids got certificates for their first Cubs game!

The kids watched the warm-up. It was nice in the sun.

It was free blanket day and I am sure glad because it was freezing!

CUBS WIN!

We ate local Chicago pizza for dinner near our apartment at Ricobene’s.

Day 3: Art Institute

We took the train downtown and viewed the street art down to the Art Institute.

I love, love, love the street art in Chicago.

This vermilion steel 50-ton, 53-feet tall flamingo by Alexander Calder:

The Four Seasons mosaic by Marc Chagall is 70 feet long, 14 feet high, 10 feet wide.

The Picasso is 50 feet tall and weighs 162 short tons.

We Will by Richard Hunt is a welded stainless steel sculpture – 35’H x 8’W x 8’D

Bronze Cow Statue – 57 inches high, 92 inches long.

Depicted as reflections in the eyes of the cow are two famous Chicago landmarks, the “Chicago Picasso” sculpture and the Historic Water Tower.

The plaque reads ….
In 1999 a herd of fiberglass cows united citizens, visitors, artists and businesses through a unique community-based public art event. This bronze cow is a gift to all Chicagoans in gratitude for the support of the cows and other art in public places.
A gift to the city of Chicago from the Hanig family and anonymous donors.
November 2001.
Bronze Cow cast at Wagner Foundry, Inc., Chicago, IL.

The Cloud Gate sculpture is nicknamed The Bean because of its shape. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It measures 33 by 66 by 42 feet and weighs 110 short tons.

At the Art Institute, the North Lion is “On the Prowl” by Edward Kemeys. The South Lion is “stands in an attitude of defiance.”

We ate a lovely lunch at Terzo Piano.

The Art Institute is open daily 10:30–5:00 and Thursdays until 8:00. Adults $25. Illinois residents on Thursdays, military members, Chicago children under 18, all children under 13 are FREE.

We saw so many favorites we have studied!

Lucent is a shining 13-foot sculpture created by English artist Wolfgang Buttress, with the help of astrophysicist, Dr. Daniel Bayliss, made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere. It is amplified even more against a mirrored ceiling above and a reflecting pool below. It hangs in the lobby of the John Hancock Building.

We walked down to the American Girl store at Water Tower Place.

We had dinner at Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch.

Day 4: Shedd Aquarium

We saw more lovely street art on the way to the Shedd Aquarium.

Reproduced from the original historic Metro entrances of Paris, designed by Hector Guimard:

Bird Boy Mural

Agora is designed by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, on the southwest side of Grant Park, and is made up of 106 9-foot headless and armless torsos fabricated from cast iron.

Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with permanent saltwater exhibits as well as freshwater habitats. It opened on May 30, 1930.

Regular hours
Weekdays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Weekends: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Extended summer hours (June 15-Aug. 18, 2019)
All days: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the exception of July 27

General admission: Adult $39.95*, child (3-11) $29.95*
Chicago residents: Adult $19.95*, child (3-11) $14.95*

Active-duty U.S. military personnel receive FREE general admission with proper ID.

Blue Star Families Program
Memorial Day through Labor Day, active-duty U.S. military and up to five family members receive free general admission to Shedd. Proper ID is required.

We loved the Belugas, Aquatic Presentation, and all 8 around the world exhibits. We’re so pleased with how much conservation they support.

Shedd is a full day of fun!

We had dinner at Santorini.

We stopped by one last monument before heading home the next morning, the old stockyard gate:

There’s never enough time to see everything, but I think we used our time well and saw so much!

What’s your favorite thing in Chicago?

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Cincinnati Art Museum

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August 27, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

There’s a pretty good selection of various art from around the world and across the ages.

We like the Islamic Art wing.

We visited the Albrecht Dürer exhibit in February 2018.

Dürer made six prints of Jerome, one of the most popular saints of the German Renaissance.

We visited the Terracotta Warriors in August 2018.

I never really expected to view these and we jumped at the chance to go see them. It was almost at the last minute because this was a busy time for us. They only had 5 tickets left that day and we nabbed them!

Also, the Art of Robert McCloskey was another exhibit at this time. It was cute.

Visit Cincinnati Art Museum.

Special Exhibition Ticket Pricing

General public	Seniors
(ages 18 and up) $12	(ages 65+) $6
Children	Children 5
(ages 6-17) $6	and under FREE
College students	Thursday
(with valid ID) $6	5–8 p.m. FREE

General Admission is always FREE!

Parking is FREE in Museum lots.

Tuesday–Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

Thursdays 11 a.m.–8 p.m.

Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

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Dayton Art Institute

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September 24, 2018 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

The Dayton Art Institute is a great beginner art museum for people of all ages.

It’s small and doesn’t take long to go through. There are some important examples of art for every era.

For military families, DAI is FREE all summer long. Students and kids are always FREE.

My teen daughter and I visited to check it out.

We were a little silly.

Some of our favorites:

Visit DAI:

REGULAR HOURS
MONDAY	Closed
TUESDAY	Closed
WEDNESDAY	11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
THURSDAY	11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
FRIDAY	11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
SATURDAY	11 a.m. – 5 p.m
SUNDAY	Noon – 5 p.m.

Leo Bistro is now open!

MUSEUM ADMISSION
Suggested general admission to the museum’s collection galleries:

Adults: $8
Seniors, Groups & Active Military: $5
Members, Students, & Youth: FREE

NOTE: Special exhibitions, programs and events may carry an additional admission charge.

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How We Do Art

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September 17, 2018 By Jennifer Lambert 9 Comments

Art is very important in our home and homeschool.

My parents discounted and disapproved of my love of art and I was only allowed to take one semester in 10th grade. I still have that portfolio.

I loved and still love viewing art, but I believed that creating was a waste of time because my parents drilled that into me for years. I’m learning to overcome that now.

I want my kids to appreciate and understand art, and love creating.

We often hike in nature to celebrate the artistic beauty of creation. We learn art history, visit museums, read books about art and creativity, take classes, and create some of our own projects!

Art History

We learn about the major art themes and techniques along with our regular history studies. It really helps tie everything together for us.

My eldest is considering majoring in art history.

Art Appreciation

Like literature, I want my kids exposed to art and learn to appreciate it. Some we love and others…we just don’t.

We celebrate the human body and achievements of great artists.

We go to lots of museums. My kids beg to go to museums. Almost all our European travels revolved around viewing art and churches.

25+ favorite books about art and creativity:

We buy books at the museums we visit so we can remember our favorite pieces.

I collect art history textbooks (there’s a free bin at our library).

We love living books about art and artists and often check them out at our library.

Picture books often have stunning illustrations.

Draw Write Now series
Draw and Write through History series
ARTistic Pursuits series
The Story of Architecture
Sister Wendy Beckett art books
The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-Modern
Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History
David Macaulay books
Art: A World History
A World of Art
The Usborne Introduction to Art
The Children’s Interactive Story of Art
Child’s Introduction to Art
Discovering Great Artists
Art Lab for Kids and Drawing Lab and Paint Lab
Drawing With Children and Drawing for Older Children & Teens
Storybook Art
Great American Artists for Kids
Ed Emberley drawing books
Catherine V Holmes drawing books
Global Art
The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home
Monsters Love Colors
Mouse Paint
Little Blue and Little Yellow
The Dot
Herve Tullet books
Anholt’s Artists Books For Children
James Mayhew books
Mike Venezia biographies

Notebooking and Unit Studies

Of course we love notebooking and this is a great way to synthesize our knowledge about art and artists.

Projects and Crafts

We’ve done some arts and crafts to go along with our science and history studies. We also create just for fun sometimes.

We’re all about the process.

As soon as kids are past preschool age, I recommend purchasing the best supplies you can afford so kids get used to using real art tools.

Classes

Sometimes, outsourcing education is the way to go. Yes, it’s expensive and time consuming, but my knowledge and abilities are limited. Also, I don’t have to gather supplies or clean anything up.

I taught stART (Story+Art) one year at a homeschool co-op in Utah.

My eldest took some amazing art classes at ARTWorks in San Antonio, Texas, for our first two years homeschooling.

We’ve been taking classes at SPARK Art Studio in Kettering, Ohio, the last couple years.

Local YMCA and community centers often offer art classes.

My kids like the Notability app. They love playing with the Home Design app.

Computer programs: Inkscape, Tux Paint…all the Adobe creation apps and programs (I haven’t paid for yet).

Drawing and Painting lessons from Easy Peasy Homeschool.

This art curricula list from The Homeschool Mom.

Drawspace – 15% of the content on Drawspace.com is free.

Atelier art lessons online. Arts Attack Publications has stood for superior quality in art instruction for decades now and is exclusively devoted to developing and publishing high quality, easy-to-teach, video-based visual art lessons for children.

Homeschool art from Schoolhouse Teachers.

Sparketh offers different levels of online art classes.

Art curricula reviews from Cathy Duffy.

You Are An Artist online lessons:

Artist Clubhouse Video Art Lessons Sampler

How do you study art in your home or homeschool?

ProSchool Membership - Productive Homeschooling

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Totally Awesome Tie-Dye Book Review

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June 18, 2018 By Jennifer Lambert 6 Comments

Looking for a fun event idea this summer? Consider throwing a tie-dye party!

This is great warm-weather fun! Perfect for VBS, birthdays, block parties, anytime.

My three kids have been dying to try tie-dye.

This book offers lots of different techniques that are easy enough for the kids to do on their own!

Why Totally Awesome Tie-Dye book is great:

There are easy tutorials.
There’s a list of all the items you could possibly need to make fun tie-dye creations.
We like the charts of basic methods to help with decisions.
The trouble-shooting guide is important to correct mistakes.
If you want to have a big tie-dye party, there’s a handy guide for that!

We had a little family tie-dye party.

I bought a big tie-dye kit with oodles of colors and plastic gloves.

We used disposable baking pans and did the tie-dye in the driveway to minimize mess.

We pre-washed the shirts so they were damp and then the kids got to work.

My son chose two-tone crumple.

We let the shirts sit overnight with plastic wrap so they would soak in all the dye. Then we washed them.

His favorite colors!

One daughter chose swirls with black spikes.

It turned out perfect!

Another daughter chose to spray dye.

It looks well-saturated.

She wants to redo it a bit with more dye. She was actually cautious for once!

We really love all the fun ideas in Totally Awesome Tie-Dye. There’s a Japanese technique, yarn dying, and lots of other fun projects we plan to try!

About the Author:

Suzanne McNeill is the author of more than 200 craft & hobby books, including Joy of Zentangle®, The Beauty of Zentangle®, the 11-volume Zentangle® series, and Zen Mandalas. Suzanne founded the leading publisher of Zentangle® books, Design Originals (an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing). She was voted Designer of the Year and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Craft & Hobby Association. Suzanne has been called “the trendsetter” of the arts and crafts industry.

Tie-dying is a wonderful way to create dramatic fashion statements without using too many materials or spending a lot of time. “No group is too large for tie-dying,” says author and expert crafter Suzanne McNeill. “It’s a great activity for family reunions, scouting events, parties, and fundraisers.”

Nicknamed “The Trendsetter of the arts and crafts industry,” McNeill is the author of the new book Totally Awesome Tie-Dye: Fun-to-Make Fabric Dyeing Projects for All Ages (Design Originals, May 2018). Filled with stylish projects, McNeill shows step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish ice dyeing, crumple dyeing, resist dyeing, and Shibori—shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. Everything you can imagine about the art of tie-dying is covered in Totally Awesome Tie-Dye, even tips for tie-dying with children.

McNeill also shares how to tie-dye several items of clothing in her tie-dye manifesto, including fashion designs for t-shirts, dresses, socks, caps, scarves, and even embellishments for home décor. The goal of McNeill’s book is to make this entertaining craft fun for all ages. “The joy of creating art is for everybody,” she says. “I hope to inspire people to discover their own creativity.”

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Spark Art

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April 9, 2018 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

We are so thrilled to have found Spark Art Studio.

As a home educator, I don’t usually outsource my kids’ education. I can teach art history just fine.

But hands-on arts and crafts is something I often skip at home. While I absolutely love art, I fail in the actual hands-on part of art. I don’t like the setup, research, mess, or cleanup. I don’t have the time, talent, supplies, space, or aptitude. I don’t feel I do art justice or often enough.

These classes are worth every single penny.

The homeschool classes encompass all sorts of fabulous art techniques and art history.

Miss Jamie really goes all out with getting the kids involved in the process and creating amazing and fun projects.

I love this sign that hangs in their waiting room:

Sometimes when we arrive a few minutes early, I overhear the interaction with the previous class. I just love the kindness in Miss Jamie’s voice as she ever so gently guides the toddler and baby in their art exploration, play, and projects. Their mother also is exemplary in her respectful tone and words with her young children. They both are such role models!

I’ve never heard Miss Jamie get exasperated with a child. She must have the patience of a saint!

My kids adore Miss Jamie and the homeschool art class.

Here’s a lovely tribute wall to her mom:

I will sacrifice in other areas of our budget to ensure my kids get their art on.

Spark Art just moved to a new and improved permanent location and it’s just wonderful.

I’ve been so very impressed with all the incredible art my kids have learned about and created each week.

The kids loved making prints and learning about lithographs.

They learned about the Huichol people in Mexico and made some inspired texture designs.

Miss Jamie often gives me neat printouts of the artists and art history for me to bring home for my files. I love that.

I have no interest in glitter.

One of my favorites are these drip paint pieces. I sprayed them with polyurethane and mounted them on our wall.

I also love these circles paintings. I plan to frame those and hang them.

The kids really enjoyed making clay sculptures.

They learned about Helen Frankenthaler one week and painted these amazing rubber band boards. They’re still being stored on the shelf to dry.

They’ve learned about story book illustrators, painters, performance artists, sculptors, and pop art.

They’ve worked on stop motion videos, anime, drawing, painting.

I love the variety.

Each homeschool class includes a lesson and/or story and often up to 3-4 projects!

There are classes for everyone!

You can order a whole session of 5 weekly classes or do a drop-in to see if you love it. (You will.)

Mommy and Me
Preschoolers
After School
Teens
Homeschoolers
Adults

There are special holiday workshops, Scouts events, and birthday parties!

The lineup for summer camp looks amazing.

If you live in the Dayton, OH, area…you must visit Spark Art Studio!

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Michelangelo Unit Study

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October 11, 2016 By Jennifer Lambert 6 Comments

We’ve traveled to Rome and Florence and studied Michelangelo’s art extensively.

Michelangelo was a true Renaissance man: sculptor, painter, poet, engineer, architect.

His memorial is in Santa Croce church in Florence:

Some of our favorites:

The Doni Tondo at the Uffizi Museum in Florence.

Tondo means “in the round.” Michelangelo designed the frame, but didn’t create this one. Michelangelo hated painting, especially portrait painting.

Funny story has it that the minor nobleman who commissioned this piece for his bride’s wedding gift disliked the peasant look of the Holy Family and the nudes in the background, so refused to pay. Michelangelo had a fit and doubled the price. They went back and forth, even shouting in the streets, and all of Florence watched it like a tennis match until he finally agreed to pay.

Michelangelo’s 4 Slaves or Prisoners at the Accademia Gallery in Florence:

He designed these (and the Moses) for the tomb of Pope Julius II, that was never completed.

Also, St. Matthew at the Accademia Gallery in Florence:

He was commissioned to complete all 12 apostles for the city of Florence, but they were not completed after the Republic government fell.

Palestrina Pietà at the Accademia Gallery in Florence:

May or may not be Michelangelo. There’s very little info about it.

The David, of course! At Accademia Gallery.

He won a contest to create a statue for the city of Florence from a damaged block of marble that had been lying open to the elements for almost 50 years.

The Deposition, also called the Florence Pietà, the Bandini Pietà or The Lamentation over the Dead Christ, and thought to be a self-portrait as the face of Nicodemus. At the Duomo Museum.

Giorgio Vasari noted that Michelangelo began to work on the sculpture around the age of 72. Without commission, Michelangelo worked tirelessly into the night with just a single candle to illuminate his work. Vasari wrote that he began to work on this piece to amuse his mind and to keep his body healthy. After 8 years of working on the piece, Michelangelo would go on and attempt to destroy the work in a fit of frustration. Vasari gave several reasons why Michelangelo destroyed his Florentine pieta:

“…Either because of defects in the marble, or because the stone was so hard | that the chisel often struck sparks, or because he was too severe a judge J of his own work and could never be content with anything he did. It is | true that few of his mature works were ever completed and that those entirely finished were productions of his youth. Such were the Bacchus, the Pieta of the Madonna della F^ebbre [in Saint Peter’s], il Gigante [the David], at Florence, and the Christ Risen of the Minerva [Santa Maria sopra Minerva], which are finished to such perfection that a single grain could not be taken from them without injury. Michelangelo often said that, if he were compelled to satisfy himself, he should show little or nothing. The reason is obvious: he had attained such knowledge in art that the slightest error could not exist without his immediate dis- covery of it. But once it had been seen in public, he would never attempt to correct it, but would begin a new work, for he believed that a similar failure would not happen again. He often declared that this was the reason that the number of his finished works was so small.”

In Rome, we stood in awe of The Pietà, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Also, we kept putting in a Euro to light up the chapel with the statue of Moses, in St. Peter Vincoli:

Shhh…we snuck a picture of the Sistine Chapel ceiling at the Vatican:

We love traveling to see art and history come alive!

Activities:

Notebooking with famous art and artists printable pages from Productive Homeschooling.
We made our own paints from natural materials when we reviewed Michelangelo for Kids. There are 21 educational activities in that book!
We made little frescoes of our own and realized how difficult it is!

Alex painted a beach scene.

Katie painted a river with flowers on the bank.

Tori painted a fruit basket.

In the morning, they were dry and the colors were faded. We realize how precise and complicated making the perfect consistency of plaster is for the colors to stay true. We used liquid watercolors, which probably aren’t the best for fresco-painting.

Michelangelo is one of our favorite artists of all time!

Resources:

Mixing with the Masters Mixed Media Workshop, Volume One

I also like this art website.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo by Irving Stone.

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Bernini Unit Study

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October 6, 2016 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

We fell in love with Bernini’s sculpture in Rome.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini is considered the founder of Baroque art.

Bernini designed and created the Chair of Saint Peter, also known as the Throne of Saint Peter, AND St. Peter’s Baldachin, a large Baroque sculpted bronze canopy, technically called a ciborium or baldachin, over the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica.

We got to witness The Pope give Christmas morning Mass and saw the Chair and Baldachin up close!

We got to quickly explore the area near the altar after the Pope and Cardinals left the floor of St. Peter’s Basilica to prepare for the Christmas Benediction from the balcony.

Bernini also designed the piazza and colonnade in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Also, at the Vatican, he is responsible for the Scala Regia (1663–66), the monumental grand stairway entrance to the Vatican Palace, along with the Cathedra Petri, the Chair of Saint Peter, in the apse of St. Peter’s, and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the nave.

Around Rome:

The Turtle Fountain in the Jewish district is a favorite with Tori, love of all turtles and tortoises!

Fountain of the Moor in Piazza Navona

Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

Fountain of the Old Boat by Pietro Bernini, father of Gian. This is near the Spanish Steps.

We visited the Borghese Gallery in Rome, which houses so many Bernini sculptures:

I have to say that I really, really, really love Bernini’s David.

Hades and Persephone are so lifelike. The fingers pressing into her thigh!

Apollo and Daphne. Her fingers are turning into leaves.

We also saw the statue of Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius from the Aeneid and the unfinished Truth Unveiled by Time. Spectacular.

Bernini’s family tomb is in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Bernini Family Tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore

We’re on our way to see more Bernini sculpture at The Louvre and Versailles. Stay tuned for photos. Follow us on Instagram!

The Sleeping Hermaphroditus in The Louvre:

The Bust of Louis XIV in the Salon of Diana at Versailles:

We carved our own statues from soap!

It was really hard. Tori and Alex just made reliefs. Katie cut out a PokeBall. We can imagine how difficult sculpting from marble must be.

Love this:

I also like this art site.

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Michelangelo for Kids Book Review

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July 6, 2016 By Jennifer Lambert 1 Comment

We are so thrilled to review the book Michelangelo for Kids: His Life and Ideas, with 21 Activities from Chicago Review Press by award-winning author Simonetta Carr.

It is written for kids ages 9 and up. My kids are 6, 9, and 10.

My 6-year-old son is obsessed with “his book” and I often come upon him looking through it. He likes to point out the pieces of art we’ve seen in our travels.

We’ve recently traveled to Rome and Florence and viewed Michelangelo’s works up close and personal. We love art and history.

This book review is perfect timing for our Renaissance studies.

The book begins with a note to parents, timeline about Michelangelo, and an introduction.

Eight chapters tell the history of Renaissance art and politics with Michelangelo’s biography. The book includes gorgeous full-color images of Michelangelo’s and others’ art with 21 coordinating learning activities – including learning the drawing technique of cross-hatching, poetry, fort-building, geometrical patterns, and even a recipe for garlic bread.

At the end is a glossary, list of important people, and extra resources for further study.

The book is more than an art and artist study. We really dive into the world of Michelangelo with its politics and world events.

We made our own paint from spices and herbs.

We quickly learned what a complex and time-consuming process it is to make paint! So much work for so little paint!

We have so much more respect for the painters now. What a tough job the artists and their assistants had to keep it all going.

We gathered some lovely scented and colorful spices and herbs and mixed them with water and egg yolk. The egg white can be used for varnishing the finished painting.

The kids read the project guide in the book:

I helped them mix the egg yolk, water, and spices to get a good consistency for painting.

We are very impressed by the vivid reds, greens, and blues we have seen in medieval and Renaissance art. They were rare and difficult to create.

The egg white varnish makes the paintings shine and the green and blue are a tiny bit more visible up close.

They drew mountains and earthy scenes once they realized how the colors turned out.

The finished projects!

Varnished Homemade Tempura Spice Paintings

We especially love the map of the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the book, showing each section with its subject.

We also plan to practice our carving skills on potatoes later!

Author Simonetta Carr is uniquely equipped to tell Michelangelo’s story: a former elementary school teacher turned homeschooler. She also has a background in Italian art. She is also the author of the Christian Biographies for Young Readers series, which includes John Calvin, Augustine of Hippo, and others.

Also, look for our Gandhi for Kids review next month! I really want the whole series!

Get your very own copy of Michelangelo for Kids: His Life and Ideas, with 21 Activities by Simonetta Carr for only $14.72 at Amazon.