Art Gallery "Stories in Art"

So we went to the National Gallery of Art again for "Stories in Art" 

with our Learning Group.  It was another great experience!

I'm still in awe that my children have already been here three times...

Last time was hydrangeas, this time was azaleas.  Both were gorgeous.

Elijah H, Sam, Charlotte, Joshua, Charlotte R, Irby, Wesley, Shane, Hudson, Elijah

The Docent had a paper microphone that the children held to have a turn to talk.

Great idea; we all wished we had one to take home with us.

I wish I had one for the car...

It is always "everyone-talk-at-the-same-time" when we are in the car.

Shane and Carson have become Hudson's good buddies.

They practiced being "careful lookers" by keeping their hands behind their backs.

This Docent had a laser pointer that they took turns using to identify things in the paintings...

it was by far the most exciting part of the morning for the kids.

Ahem, Elijah.

Remember last time?

He did it again.

See?

Haaaaa....I think his hand is getting tired.

For you Baylor grads...think little Wesley is gonna be in Stu Fu one day?

Hudson got into a spell at the museum where he became attached to me.  It was quite annoying.

(Lest you think my children are perfect.)

They drew pictures of themselves as a decorated/painted Indian Chief and included a personalized marking on their face that represented something about them.  It was a really cute activity.

Love all of those kids on their bellies with their feet in the air.  

Hudson and Carson

National Zoo

On one of those days we were supposed to be doing home school, we all went to the Zoo.

I am not sure if the rest of the kids got their work done before we went,  because we sure didn't.

But it was fun and worth it, especially on a day that it was 65 degrees!

Most of the kids that went are Elijah's class mates, and their siblings.

Elijah, Hudson, Eloise, Sam and Emmaline

Joshua, Sam, Elijah, Carson and Hudson

They have an "O-Crossing" where orangutans cross over on ropes from one area to another.  

It's really neat!

We headed over to see the tigers and lions.

The mom in the pic is Carrie, who lived in NC before moving here.

She likes smocked dresses and has a matching light blue mini van, so we hit it off.   ;)

They have 3 kids our kids ages and #4 coming in the spring.

The other two moms are Megan and Martha.  

Martha is the director of the Learning Group and her two boys are my boys' ages.

Sweet Charlotte is giving Emmaline a boost. 

 Charlotte is in Elijah's class and is Carrie's daughter.

This lion actually ROARED while we were standing right there.  

None of us had ever heard a lion roar in person!

The kids loved it, of course.

The boys all wanted to "go see cobra snakes!"

We had a little picnic lunch and stayed a while to let the kids play in the grassy area; it was so warm!

National Gallery of Art "Stories in Art"

We are getting to enjoy all of the free perks of living in DC already...

Elijah went to the Navy Yard last week for a class on building models

(he went with a friend so I don't have pics)

and today we went to the National Gallery of Art for one of their programs.

On Wednesday it's supposed to be 65, so we are going to the DC Zoo!

I was so, so impressed by the art program today.

They read a book by Eric Carle, 'The Little Cloud" and talked about shapes and colors of clouds.

Then they observed different paintings in the Dutch section of the museum 

and drew conclusions about the paintings based on the clouds.

The Docent did such a wonderful job of asking questions on their level, 

yet at the same time, teaching them brand new things they've never heard of.

They learned about seascapes and landscapes, backgrounds and foregrounds...

it was just superb.

(This is right up your alley, Grandad and Me! 

When you retire, you need to come here to be a docent and give tours for children.)

I did a swap with a friend and she kept Emmaline with her two year old, Helen,

and I took her 5 and 6 year old with us.  Perfect.

We met our Docent and followed her to a little spot where she filled them in on what we'd be doing.

These are all children from Elijah and/or Hudson's learning group.

We have school on Tues, Thurs and Fri, so we often do fun things on Mon/Wed as a group.

(Some families didn't come, so this isn't everyone.)

The little girl by Elijah is in Hudson's class and she had on a princess dress and Crocs snow boots.

LOVED it.

You'll notice a pattern of seeing Elijah's hand in the air.

He's come a long way from his bashful days.

He answered every.single.question. 

Thankfully he always raised his hand, and he didn't blurt out answers, but I know the Docent was trying so hard to let others answer, but no one else was raising their hand!

And here's Hudson telling her what he thinks the rules of the museum are:  

no running, 

no breaking the "black statues" 

(yes, I realize that sounds so racist but there was a statue right near us), 

and no touching things.

Can you tell that I gave them "the talk" before going in?

Then we headed into the room of Dutch painters and the Docent read the book.

Yes, Elijah...we know you know every answer.

There he goes again.

And now it's Elijah AND Hudson.  Geeez.  

I know, I know...I was the exact same way.  Stop laughing, Mom.

Elijah commented that he thought this might be at sunset because of the bright spot in the bottom corner.

I have to admit, he really blew me away with his insightful observations.

They are observing the landscape in this one, and the "weather report" 

based on the cloud colors and shapes.

This one was really fun to observe.

They talked about the stormy clouds, the ships in danger, the emotions that they may be feeling,

they moved their bodies side to side like they were tilting in one of the ships.

She asked them if there was any hope at all for the ships to be safe...or if they would sink forever.

Hudson raised his hand and said, "They might blow up!"

Ummm...typical boy answer.

Elijah then raised his hand and said, "See the sun in the corner?  

The rain might stop and they will be ok."

Wowzers.

I guess it IS in his genes after all...

Then we went to another spot where they had taped paper to the floor, and the children made their own seascapes or landscapes and they were to think and make a plan before drawing...whether their picture would be sunny or stormy, cloudy or not so cloudy, etc.

First, they signed their masterpieces on the back.

Hudson drew black clouds with rain coming down.  

He really thought about it first; it was so precious.

Elijah drew a pirate ship on stormy seas with big rain clouds.

See the rain?

Then they got cotton balls, and she showed them how they could pull them apart to make them stringy and thin or bunch them together and make them big and full and fluffy.

And a little "I Love You" note on the back...

Then she asked for volunteers to tell their friends about their land/sea scapes.  

Guess who the eager beavers were?

We had a little huddle and decided it was too windy to eat our picnic lunch on the steps

and voted unanimously between the 4 kids to go back to our house to have a play date.   

(Carson and Charlotte are from Greensboro, NC...

their mom/dad were there for 11 years.  Sound familiar?)

We will be going back as soon as we hear of another "Stories in Art"

and I heard that they do them in the summer too.  Can't wait for more!