Celebrating Children’s Art Week
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Welcome to our weekly CENMAC blog post.
Celebrating Children’s Art Week
By Mary Long (CENMAC Advisory Teacher)
Although we have the welcome news that lockdown restrictions are starting to ease, and the world is gradually opening up once again, it will be a long time before life returns to the way it was pre-COVID, if at all.
In London, museums and art galleries, having been closed to the public for almost 4 months now, will be reopening using a staggered approach from around mid-July. Many have adapted to lockdown rules, by offering a range of online content, such as virtual exhibitions and downloadable activities.
This year, many special events have had to adapt and alter their ways of working to allow people to attend from their own homes. Children’s Art Week 2020 is one special annual event which has been reimagined for an online audience. This year, Children’s Art Week is spread over three weeks from 29 June to 19 July, with a different focus for each of the three weeks. Next week (6 July) the theme is “Connecting across generations” and there is an abundance of activities and ideas to get your creativity flowing.
Three online events exploring the Windrush Generation and the 500+ people who journeyed from the Caribbean to the UK in 1948 take place between Monday 6th and Wednesday 8th July. These sessions will take place via Zoom and are aimed at families with children aged between 4 and 11. For further details and to book a place for each of the sessions, visit:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/make-your-own-empire-windrush-tickets-110759956010 (Monday’s session on designing and decorating your own boat)
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/craft-a-porthole-tickets-110774752266?aff=erelpanelorg (Tuesday’s session on the view from a porthole)
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/create-a-welcome-flag-tickets-110777163478?aff=erelpanelorg (Wednesday’s session on making a welcome flag)
During lockdown, many people have noticed changes in the world around them and especially in the sounds of the city. London’s steady hum of traffic fell silent and sounds from nature became more discernible. On Tuesday afternoon, artist and musician Alice Mahoney invites you to explore imaginary worlds through sound in an online workshop “When the world became quiet”.
To register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/when-the-world-became-quiet-zoom-workshop-with-artist-alice-mahoney-tickets-110634478704
For families with younger children, a collection of resources and activities linked to the theme of connecting generations from Orleans House Gallery, goes live on Friday 10th July. Visit https://engage.org/happenings/orleans-house-gallery-connecting-across-generations/ on Friday to find out more and join the fun!
For creating and making without the mess there is a multitude of online resources including this collection from CBeebies: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/curations/creative-play-for-kids You can find all your favourite characters, including Mr Tumble, Postman Pat and the Teletubbies, and paint and colour on screen.
More arty activities of all kinds can be found on the Tate website here: https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/make with a section dedicated to Art and Technology. Anyone with children at home who have uttered the dreaded words ‘I’m bored’ over the last few months should find plenty here to keep those young minds active. I especially like the idea of inventing a creature based on listening to a sound: https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/make/art-technology/draw-sound-creature
Hope you enjoy these ideas, and if you would like to know more about Children’s Art Week, take a look here: https://engage.org/happenings/childrens-art-week/
Don’t forget you can share your CENMAC experiences for our CENMAC family to enjoy.
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