Children of all ages are invited to learn about art while having lots of fun in our kids’ programs and workshops, with unique, seasonal, or customized offerings throughout the year!
Discovering Art & Nature
Art and nature programs at Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers' Museum are a place where children ages 4-14 can experience a new world of enriched creativity, self-improvement, and art appreciation.
Programs inspire, nurture, and inform through art making, discussion, and presentation. Various art styles are explored with hands-on projects. (more info)
Discovering Art and Nature: Origami-Rama | July 15 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Children will explore the ancient Japanese art of paper-folding by learning some basic folds and then making a selection of animals and objects – cats, birds, and even drinking cups – with brightly colored origami paper.
Discovering Art and Nature: Moving Pictures | July 17 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Children will explore 19th century toys used to create “moving pictures,” including thaumatropes and praxinoscopes, and will make their own flip books and other visually exciting toys to take home.
Discovering Art and Nature: Sun Prints | July 22 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Learn about how the art of photography works by making prints on special paper that is exposed in the sun (or if it’s a cloudy day, in a special light box) and is developed in water! Make special frames for your favorite prints.
Discovering Art and Nature: Hudson River School Painting | July 24 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Children will learn about the Hudson River School artists, who made beautiful landscape paintings during the 1800s. They will then make their own large-scale paintings in this style while sitting outside and looking at Otsego Lake (weather permitting).
Discovering Art and Nature: Fabulous Fresco Plaque | July 29 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
A fresco is a painting on fresh, wet plaster on a wall or ceiling. The paint is absorbed into the drying plaster, making it permanent. This type of painting has been done since 1,600 B.C.! Children will make their own fresco plaques to hang on a wall.
Discovering Art and Nature: Map Makers | July 31 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Maps can be a form of folk art, with highly decorated borders and colorful pictures. This morning group will color maps and learn about their symbols, while children in the afternoon will create their own fantasy maps, designing and charting their own countries, rivers, and towns, and then painting pictures of the lands they imagine.
Discovering Art and Nature: Magnificent Mosaic | August 5 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Mosaics appeared as early as 3,000 B.C. and became widespread during 300 B.C. in cities ruled by Greece. In this class, young artists will design an original mosaic using glass and ceramic tiles.
Discovering Art and Nature: Art Smarts | August 7 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Children will play a series of fun games in this class that will let their imaginations soar and strengthen their understanding of the fundamentals of art. Can children listen to music and paint what it sounds like? Can they draw a picture with their eyes closed? We’ll find that out and more in this fun, unpredictable class.
Discovering Art and Nature: Cabinet of Curiosity | August 12 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
A “cabinet of curiosity” is a group of objects displayed in a fun, interesting way. Cabinets of curiosity were the precursors of museums in the sixteenth century. Children will collect interesting objects (supplied by the museum or collected outside) and will make their own displays in boxes and shelves to take home.
Discovering Art and Nature: Clay Pots | August 14 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Children will look at clay objects in the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, especially ceramic pots from the Desert Southwest. They will then make their own miniature clay jars using techniques and designs seen in the pieces in the collection.
Discovering Art and Nature: Japanese Printing | August 19 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Learn about the art of Japanese printing in this class! Children will look at examples of Japanese fish prints and woodblock prints, and will make their own based on these styles. They will use rubber fish and special foam blocks to make prints to take home!
Discovering Art and Nature: The Mysteries of Paint | August 21 2008 | Ages 4-7: 9:00am-10:00am; Ages 8-14: 1:00pm-3:00pm
In this messy and fun class, children will explore the qualities of different kinds of paint in a series of fun art projects. Children in the afternoon class will make their own egg tempera paints and then create a painting with them!
