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June 4, 2019 6 Comments

10 Fun Kinesthetic Activities to Do with Art

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Inside: Ten fun kinesthetic activities to help students connect with works of art.

Kinesthetic Activities with Art

One of the best ways for young people to connect with artworks is through movement. Exploring art with their bodies helps students connect with the art and artists by helping them clearly understand the emotions, actions, and conventions. It makes them think about the art in new ways and best of all, it’s fun! Here are some kinesthetic activities to get students moving and inspired by artworks.

A few years ago, I did a conference presentation for Education Closet about Kinesthetic Art Connections. Check out the video here, and then see the list of kinesthetic activities below!

Kinesthetic Activities

N’kisi Nkondi Power Figures from the Kongo People of Western-Central Africa

1. Have students pose as the characters in a painting or sculpture and discuss how it feels.

2. Make a tableau vivant (a living picture).

3. Play charades.

4. Have a conversation about the artwork through pantomime only. (Gestures only — no words!)

Wassily Kandinsky, Composition 8, 1923

5. Create a dance inspired by the artwork. (This one is especially fun with abstract art!)

6. Trace the lines in an artwork with your finger in the air.

7. Get up and look at the artwork from far away, up close, down below, and from the side and notice how the artwork changes depending on where you look at it from.

8. Make the shapes in the artwork using your body and work with others to make the shapes you can’t.

Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror, 1932
Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror, 1932

9. Play mirror. Have one student have their back to the artwork and one student facing the art and the other student. Have the student who can see the artwork do movements from the art, and have the one with their back to the work mirror the moving student.

10. If you have a group of students, form a line and have all the students work together to mimic the lines and shapes in the artwork.

Theater Games

If you want more creative games to play with kids, traditional theater games are always fun to adapt to studying art. Check out this book about theater games which includes 130 theater games, music and videos, and learning standards. It’s an amazing resource for the classroom–and not just for theater teachers!

**As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher’s Handbook

Kinesthetic Art Activities

Try these kinesthetic activities out and let me know how it goes in the comments.

This post was originally published on February 9th, 2015.

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Filed Under: Art Connection Activities
Tagged With: best of art class curator

 

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Reader Interactions

6 Comments

  1. Erin @ Nourishing My Scholar

    February 18, 2015 at 8:47 am

    These are wonderful ideas. Thank you for sharing! So glad I found you at the A Little Bird Told Me link up.

    Reply to this comment
    • Cindy, The Art Curator for Kids

      February 19, 2015 at 10:52 am

      Thanks so much! 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  2. Giselle Shardlow - Kids Yoga Stories

    March 10, 2015 at 7:49 am

    Fabulous ideas to incorporate art + movement! I’m so glad to have found your website!

    Reply to this comment
    • Cindy, The Art Curator for Kids

      March 10, 2015 at 2:27 pm

      Thank you! And thanks for sharing. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  3. Elly

    March 25, 2015 at 9:39 pm

    Hi! I found this post through Giselle Shardlow, and am another kids’ yoga teacher. I was inspired by your ideas and created a lesson for my Montessori preschoolers this week about movement through an imagined trip to an art museum. I blogged about it here (and linked to your site!): http://www.elovinyoga.com/kids-yoga-blog-and-lesson-plans/a-trip-to-the-art-museum

    Enjoy, and thank you!

    Reply to this comment
    • Cindy, The Art Curator for Kids

      March 26, 2015 at 10:06 am

      Awesome! Thanks so much. I love it. Sharing! 🙂

      Reply to this comment

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