"Great art can communicate before it is understood."
Often I would try to show children a some paintings by a famous artist before they do a piece of work. Let them realise that there are many different styles of painting.
- One way of doing that, (that I have been told about), with a class of children, if you have an IT suite, is to let each child look up a painting by your chosen artist on the internet. Encourage them not to just keep the first painting that they come to. Next, let the children walk around looking at the computers and you have you own "Computer Art Gallery".
- Use posters or save calendars that show works of art.
- Get library books and look at the paintings in them.
- Show the children paintings using an interactive white board.
- If at all possible go to art galleries.
