One of the very best ways to help our kids get excited about history and remember what they’ve learned is by making meaningful connections. Take Time for Art does an awesome job of doing just that, by bringing together audio, video, visuals, and really cool art projects into one fabulous program that makes history study so exciting and accessible!
About a year ago I got to meet Take Time for Art founder Penny Mayes, and I was so excited to hear about the way she has combined art and history into a program that I know other homeschool families will love.
My teenage sons and I got to work through the Ancient Greece program at Take Time for Art. (They also offer Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome) In this program we got to watch 15 different well-done streaming videos that taught us about various aspects of Ancient Greece, such as the ancient Minoans, the Mycenean civilization, the dark ages, Athens, the Hellenistic period, and several forms of art such as metal tooling, fresco paintings, pottery, wartime clothing, and more. Each section of history is followed by an art project that’s inspired by that era. The video walks you through each step of the process of creating the art, and the convenient art supplies pack contained all the materials we needed in order to complete the projects. (except for a few basic items that you would be sure to have on hand)
For the Ancient Greece program we got to make the following projects:
- a color wheel (which is referred back to in later projects–a great starting point for understanding the relationships between colors!)
- a watercolor fresco painting of an octopus
- a metal tooling landscape project (the other option was to make a Mask of Agamemnon, which was also super cool. But we fell in love with these textures and all selected the landscape project. They are so pretty in person!)
a Greek warrior helmet (we had the option to make it with or without a crest and other adornments. It is really cool, and yes, you can even wear your finished helmet!)
- a terra cotta tile art project that I really enjoyed! I have never worked with terra cotta tiles, and I liked the surface and the way the marker color sinks into the surface. We could have chosen a horse image for the tile as well. Bonus fun was that we were able to heat this in our oven for 30 minutes, which makes the artwork on it longer-lasting!
One of the things I really like about this program is the variety of projects available. Within this one program we got to learn a lot of history while also trying out several completely different types of art that we would not have thought up on our own. Even better, within each project there are choices, sometimes an either-or option, sometimes an easier/more difficult option. I love it that this gives the kids options and allows them to choose the thing they are most excited about. This is also great because the program will work for the typical homeschool family that has many different ages of children represented in their family. Middle elementary kids could certainly do these projects with some assistance, but there is definitely enough challenge for high schoolers and parents to participate as well! I personally enjoyed doing some of the projects myself, and got to learn about art materials that I had never worked with before.
The other thing I love about this is that the projects are guided. Sure, total creativity is exciting and cool, but not everybody’s mind works like that. Participating in a guided art activity gives us the opportunity to work with materials and techniques that we may not be familiar with, and offers a jumping off point for future creative endeavors. I am solidly in the camp of believing that BOTH guided art experiences AND free time to create art are valuable. (for parents and kids alike!)
These are not fluff projects. Each one is meaty, involved, takes several hours to complete (some are done over the course of more than one day), and produces a very nice piece of finished work for you to enjoy. Your kids will be proud of their art work!
Budget-conscious moms may be tempted to wonder if they really need a separate art supply pack for each child. You will definitely want to get one per person. Sure, there are a couple items included that could possibly be shared between kids, but for the most part each person will need all the supplies provided, and it will be less confusing and complicated when everybody has all the materials they need. I really appreciated how organized the art supplies kit was, how carefully the bendable items were packaged and protected, and that having all of it together made it possible for us to actually do these projects. If I had needed to track down all the materials from the store, or worry about dividing them up between several children, that would probably have been enough of a barrier to make me not get it done. Take Time for Art has made it about a simple as possible to watch the streaming videos and complete the projects! Perfect for busy homeschool families.
I can see Take Time for Art being a wonderful addition to your more formal studies about the coordinating time period. I think it would work well as a once-a-week or twice a month supplement and reinforcement where you would watch one of the history videos, and then work on the next art project. Your kids will love the change of pace, plus they’ll have some really cool finished projects to display in their bedrooms or in your home that will also help them recall the time period and historical information related to the piece.