Molly is a beautiful young lady in the fourth grade, she is ten years old. She barely performs well in class and is in constant need of extra tuition which she is happy to get. She knows that she has to do well in school and makes an effort on her part. Being an outgoing student who has proven her prowess in the football field, she was thrilled when she was told that there would be a classroom visit to the Metropolitan museum of art.
New York’s Metropolitan museum was established in 1870 and was visited by more than five million people in 2010.Its the biggest in the USA and it is ranked the third globally. It has over two million collections of art works, among the art works collections are pieces from: Ancient Egypt, Asia, Europe and Byzantine, America and Islamic works. The collection includes as sort of art works from armor to caskets, painting to sculptures.
The museum judging from its vast collection does not disappoint. Children from a young age will be attracted to different artifacts and it is vital to have a child from a tender age be able to appreciate art.
During the visit to the museum it was amazing how many students, especially Molly, were able to tell what most of the art works were about. They were able to say that they loved the artist’s use of color and precision, Molly said that the art work made her think about what was happening during the time the art work was being made as she was able to hint at the fact that most people are influenced to create things based on the prevailing situation. It is through their work that artists expressed sadness or joy, which they must have been feeling at the time and this she says, made her understand the function of the piece of work.
Molly said that she would have changed nothing about the painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mme Charpentier and Her children,1878.It had a special message to convey and that it she would place the painting in their sitting room above the fireplace so that many people could appreciate it. This she said was because she could hear the stories the painter was telling and wanted others to hear them.
Taking to the children to the museum was a wonderful experience for them since they were in a relaxed environment and at the same time I was able to get to learn a lot about them. I let the children explore the art works and talk freely about what the thought about them and I was amazed at how keen the children were on detail that I have previously overlooked in my pre-visit to the museum.
The choices of art works the children picked when I asked them to choose their favorite was utterly amazing as they choices had been informed by what appealed to them most, for example presence of animals, artists choice of color and the stories behind such works. Their responses were indeed insightful for children their age. Going to the Museum was invaluable as the children got to appreciate art and that they were able to learn by making deductions in a relaxed environment
Works Cited
Mayesky, Mary. Creative Activities for Young Children. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2011.
