This activity focuses on Grandparents, but can also be done with anyone you'd like your children to know more about. It includes great tips for appropriating art and how to create a portrait. Enjoy!
We are fortunate to have my mother-in-law, Carol, living down the street. “MaMaMa” visits for dinner twice a week. Our energetic kids are 4, 5 and 7 so you can imagine mealtime is a bit of a circus some days. Lately I’ve asked MaMaMa to share a few stories from her childhood and when she does, something magical happens. The children actually sit in their chairs, eat their broccoli and listen to her with wide, curious eyes. They enjoy hearing about great-grandpa Lawrence who was a Marine and one of the first men to land a plane on an aircraft carrier at night. And how when she was little there were no computers, cell phones or video games, and only one black and white television in her home.
My mother, “MiMi,” was recently visiting from New Orleans and I wanted to create opportunities for the children to get to know her family history too. My daughters enjoy art so I thought it would be fun for them to paint her portrait. I decided to make it a group art lesson and invited a few neighborhood friends over. They each brought one photo of a grandparent.
The holidays are the perfect time of year for this family art activity. Here’s an idea: after Thanksgiving dinner, have your child paint a grandparent’s portrait.
