Renoir and Vivaldi
29 Sep 2011 2 Comments
in Art Study, Crafts and Activities, Music Study Tags: harmony fine arts, picture study, Renoir, Vivaldi
We’ve initiated our new art and music study over the last several days, beginning with Renoir and Vivaldi in these first few weeks.
Renoir
Our first assignment was a picture study and coloring page of Renoir’s “The Girl with the Watering Can.”
What do you talk about in a picture study with a four year old and a three year old? I keep it pretty simple.
First, I usually ask them questions about the picture. Who’s in the picture? What is the girl holding? Where do you think she is? What makes you think she’s in a garden? etc.
Next, I ask them about colors, lighting, or anything unusual about the picture. For this one, the kids were fascinated that that her boots were black and her dress was blue. My fashion-conscious daughter really thought she ought to have had blue boots.
And last, I have them choose a part of the picture that is their favorite. The whole exercise probably takes us maybe ten minutes. I don’t drag it out. I just want them to get used to looking for details.
Over the next few days, we continued our picture study by coloring a picture of Renoir’s painting. I love this exercise because it really gives me a good look at the different personalities of my children. My son is Mr. Meticulous, and he scrutinizes every inch of the original to match it as closely as he can. And he does fret if he can’t find the right color to use to match the picture. My daughter, on the other hand, is a true artist and balks at the thought of anyone telling her how she ought to color her picture. She HATES to match the colors, and in this instance, showed her distaste by purposely scribbling outside the lines. And, I might add, included all the colors of the rainbow in the margins around the picture. But regardless, I know she will remember that blue dress with the black boots for a long time to come.
She finished her picture in two days (she was done with it after the first day, but I stretched it to two days). My son, however, took the whole week. And why not? It was because of his precision that it took so long. I just gave the little one some extra coloring pages to make up the difference in days.
Vivaldi
For Vivaldi, we’ve danced to the music, listened to it a number of times, and read his biography in Lives of the Musicians. Our facts to remember: He was called “The Red Priest” because of his red hair and red robes; he worked most of his life in an orphanage for girls; and he played the violin. I picked simple facts that I knew would stand out to my kids.
Next, we’re tackling a little music theory this year, too. We clapped out quarter notes and half notes and will gradually add in the rest as time allows.
Art and music time is my fun time. I’m not at all worried about sticking to a schedule; it’s just a fun subject to open our day with.
Handel’s Bubbles
28 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Crafts and Activities, Music Study Tags: Handel, harmony fine arts, music study
A kind soul in our church recently blessed my children with a big bag of bubbles for each of them. Needless to say, that provided hours of entertainment for them. So, I thought, why not not combine bubbles with Handels’ Water Music!
What a fun afternoon!
Music Study: Learning the Brass Family
27 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crafts and Activities, Music Study Tags: Handel, harmony fine arts, instrument identification
We have been learning about the instruments in the brass family, since those were among the instruments of choice for Handel’s Water Music.
In addition to reviewing our instrument cards that I got for free off of CurrClick.com, I’ve also been using the kidsite from New York’s Philharmonic Orchestra: nyphilkids.org. The “Instrument Storage Room” allows the kids to click on the silhouette of an instrument, then the instrument appears with a brief history of that instrument, a musical clip of the instrument to listen to, and occasionally a video clip to watch.
My son had such a blast with this! I’d love for him to learn to identify the instruments by their sound, but I’m not sure that the clips they provide are distinct enough for that lesson. We’ll see how it goes: I’ll “play it by ear” (wink, wink).
More on Music
12 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Crafts and Activities, Music Study Tags: Handel, instrument identification
The kids had so much fun sequencing the different changes in Handel’s Royal Fireworks music.
As you can tell, my son really got into it. As the music changed from loud to soft, they made a pattern with our fireworks cards: big fireworks, little firecracker, big fireworks, little firecracker, big fireworks. Then we counted how many times the music was big and how many times the music was small (loud and soft). The changes are very distinct, and both the kids did really well with the exercise, much better than I anticipated.
Another activity that we’ve added to our study has been identifying instruments. We’ve started with the brass family for now, since these and the wind instruments were the primary players in Handel’s original production. (King George I had said he did not want strings! But Handel stubbornly added the strings in later performances of the pieces.)
Anyway, my son especially got into this activity. He loves anything music related. And I got the kit of cards for free from CurrClick.com! The cards include instruments and labels for all the instrument families, including many instruments that I’ve never seen or heard of before.
After this week, we head back to Handel’s Water Music. We’ll sequence some of those pieces as well, now that the kids have a good idea of how to do it. We will also learn more from Handel’s bio, and study the brass, woodwinds, and strings instruments. My plan is to have the kids learn to identify the instruments by sight and by sound (as much as we can get through).
I can’t believe summer is almost over! We have really enjoyed our laid-back summer schedule. It truly has been a great success, very little planning and structure on my part and just enough structure to give the kids something to look forward to each day. That said, both kids seem eager to get the real school going with complete workboxes and even the timer! So that, too, tells me that it’s been just the break we needed. I couldn’t be more pleased with how my summer experiment turned out.
Some Days…
11 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crafts and Activities, Music Study Tags: firecracker, Handel
Some days, even the best laid plans can run amuck. Do you know what I mean?
So I thought I’d share the real July 4th party: the laughs, the tears, and the memories.
First, the Firecracker Floats were a huge hit! The kids loved them. And when I poured extra pop rocks on top of the floats (after the foam had been skimmed off the top), there was a perfect explosion.
But the first disaster of the night was when I tipped the cup down for my son to taste the foam and poured his float down the front of his pajamas. He cried. I laughed uncontrollably. (I don’t know why I find that sort of thing so funny.) (And yes, it is a Christmas cup; but it was the perfect size.) And yet, as you can see, he quickly recovered once his pajamas got cleaned off.
The second factor in our evening was an approaching storm. Wind kept blowing out the matches we were trying to use for the sparklers; rain threatened every minute. And those sparklers are hard to light. My poor husband almost went through a whole box of matches (while, again, I tried so hard to control my laughing fit). Finally, I thought of a candle. So we lit a candle and held our sparklers over the candle flame until they lit.
Because of the rain, I tried to have our Handel music playing inside the house through a window. But the sparklers took so long to light that the music was all over by the time we had them ready.
Then, the Little One’s sparkler died and, as hard as I was trying to watch her, she still grabbed a hold of the end of her sparkler and burned herself. Ah well, it was a July 4th celebration wrought with memories.
Let’s Make Some Noise!
01 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crafts and Activities, Music Study
We’ve been watching and listening to Handel’s Royal Fireworks music this week, in preparation for our own fireworks celebrations. And I wanted to share some of what we will be doing today, tomorrow, and Monday—in case anybody wanted some ideas.
In addition to watching the Youtube video, we’ve also done a lot of dancing and pretend trumpet playing. Today, we’ll be coloring a fireworks page from the Harmony Fine Arts download.
We’ve also been talking about the movements in the music as little fireworks and big fireworks, and I made these cards to sequence the movements (assigned for Monday).
On Saturday, I thought I’d let the kids play with sparklers as they listen to the Royal Fireworks music. And then, for a snack idea, I loved this “Firecracker Float” from Mrs. Happy Homemakers blog. (Click on the image for the recipe.)
Have a happy 4th!
Handel’s Water Party
28 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crafts and Activities, Music Study
We had so much fun preparing for this. The only disappointment was that the day turned out to be extremely hot. But all in all, it was hugely successful.
A little background: Handel wrote his Water Music at the request of King George I for a water party. There were two boats on the Thames River that day: one held the guests, the other held the musicians. Brass and woodwind instruments were primarily chosen because of how well those sounds can carry, though Handel often added stringed instruments in his later performances of the pieces.
The Menu:
We served “sailboat” sandwiches, a little bit of a take off your typical sub. Dad helped make these, and I love how the cheese made the sails.
Also, on the menu–blue jello with swimming gummy fish. This turned out much better in theory than in consumption. The gummies rather disintegrated in the jello, but the kids didn’t mind. Next time, though, I think I will add the fish after the jello is served.
And of course, goldfish crackers–what kid party would be complete without them?
The Craft:
We made our own trumpets to play along with Handel’s music. I ran across this idea as a craft for the Bible lesson of Jericho, and we just never got around to it. So, I pulled out my paper towel rolls, styrofoam bowls, and aluminum foil for our long anticipated trumpet craft. This was a huge hit.
I love this picture! Notice the Handel CD under her arm.
The Game:
I wrote questions about Handel and his music on each fish, borrowed a magnet fishing rod from one of the kid’s puzzles, and brought along a couple of sand pails (one to fish from, one for the caught fish). It always amazes me how much information the kids can retain!
The Set-up:
It just so happened that the bridge that was our setting for the party had two short piers on other side. We adopted these as our two boats, placing the music in one “boat” and our picnic in the other.
All in all, it was a lot of fun, though very hot. And my daughter thanked me over and over again all the way home. I think she takes after Mommy just a little bit; the girl loves a party.
Handel and the Water Babies
15 Jun 2011 1 Comment
in Music Study
Facts we are learning this week: 1) George Frederick Handel was born in Germany but wrote much of his music in England. 2) His father did not want him to make music; he wanted Handel to make money. 3) King George I asked Handel to compose some music for his water party. The guests were to ride in one boat, while the musicians rode alongside in a second boat.
What would be more perfect than listening to Handel’s water music during pool time? A water party! I am wanting to plan a water party for this weekend.
This will be the setting: the bridge over the pond.
I’ll bring the CD player with the Handel music, but I need a few more ideas–menu for the picnic lunch and/or a fun treat, games and activities, etc. I’d love some of your ideas! Then, I’ll post pictures of our party for you to see how it turned out.
Some of our other resources:
- Van Gogh/Handel Unit Study
- Classics for Kids podcasts and activities
