Visual arts activity
Virtual Museum Visit
Visit a museum online together. Pick 3 artworks you like and point to your favorite parts.
Materials and setup
- computer or tablet with internet
- notebook or paper
Parent note
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org), Smithsonian, Rijksmuseum, and Tate all offer free online collections. This is real — no app needed, just a browser.
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Visit a museum online together. Pick 3 artworks you like and point to your favorite parts.
Steps
- Open a museum website (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Louvre, or Smithsonian all have free online collections).
- Scroll together and stop at 3 artworks that catch your eye.
- For each, point to what you like best.
- Name one color you see in each.
- Pick THE favorite of the 3.
Learning objectives
- Experience a virtual museum
- Make choices from a large collection
- Share preferences
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Visit a museum website. Pick 5 artworks from different centuries. Make a 'favorites list'.
Steps
- Go to a museum website together (Met, Smithsonian, or the Rijksmuseum).
- Find 5 artworks from different times.
- For each: write (or dictate) the title and artist.
- Write one sentence about each: 'I like it because...'
- Pick your top 2.
Learning objectives
- Navigate a museum collection
- Record titles and artists
- Express preferences with reasons
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Virtual museum tour with a scavenger hunt: find 1 portrait, 1 landscape, 1 still life, 1 sculpture, 1 modern piece.
Steps
- Visit the Met (metmuseum.org), the Smithsonian, or any museum with an online collection.
- Find one example of each: portrait, landscape, still life, sculpture, and a 20th-century or later piece.
- Record title, artist, year, and country for each.
- Note which category was hardest to find.
- Pick your favorite of the 5 and explain why using one specific art term (composition, color, value, texture, etc.).
Learning objectives
- Recognize art categories (portrait, landscape, etc.)
- Record museum metadata accurately
- Use art vocabulary to justify preferences
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Curate a 7-piece personal collection from museum online collections. Write wall labels and a short curator note explaining the theme.
Steps
- Pick a theme (water, faces, cities, wildness, tools — anything).
- Browse 2-3 museum websites (Met, Smithsonian, Tate, Rijksmuseum, LACMA).
- Select 7 artworks that fit your theme, aiming for variety in era, region, and medium.
- For each, write a 2-sentence wall label (title, artist, year, and why it fits the theme).
- Write a short curator note explaining the collection's idea.
- Share your collection with a family member and ask one question about it.
Learning objectives
- Curate work around a theme
- Write museum wall labels
- Produce a short curator note
- Survey collections across institutions and periods
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
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