Artistic Pursuits - stress free art

The price of this course put me off for a year or so - at £20, it's more than I'm used to paying. But I've not been disappointed. We are doing the first book, aimed at K-3. Each of the 30 units is a three page lesson; part one explores something about what artists do- eg 'Artists look', 'Artists communicate' etc; part two is what artists see - this is a brief art appreciation section; the final part is a practical (and quick) project for putting what the student has learnt into practice. Students can see work done by other children to give them ideas/courage!

This course is so incredibly easy to use, I can't think there is any parent out there who couldn't use it, given a little practice and the help of the local art shop.

Find pages to see at
http://www.artisticpursuits.com/ak-3.htm#k-3%20a

Buy from
http://www.conquestbooks.co.uk/search.php?search_text=art&Submit=Find+It%21

'Arty Facts' - art inspired by science.

I bought a few of these books a few months ago after some research, having not seen them first. They are wonderful and unusual and we've done many projects from them.

Each book consists of double-spreads on different topics. The left hand page is full of information and really beautiful photos. The right hand side is an art project to reinforce the topic. For example, in the 'Light and Colour' book, the first few topics and activities are:- sunshine/golden sundial; silvery shades/flashing fish; reflections/mirror ball.

The beauty of these books is that the project always turns out individual and is still educational; when we were doing the brain in the 'body' book, dd drew a hugely detailed 'brain city'. It really made her think about the functions of the brain and how they relate to each other.

One of these books would work well as a term's change from a more formal science programme, at 1 to 2 hours a week. Multi age - no problem!

10/10 - give them a look!