Studies show that participation in the arts has a positive impact on students’ academic achievement, social development, and emotional well-being. Here are lots of ways to explore dance, music, theatre, and visual arts at home.
Join the fun with the Aurora Theatre’s 2020 Digital Series. The series offers free activities for families. Get crafty on April 14 and April 21 at 7 p.m. with Cody Russell, an alum of the Aurora Theatre Apprentice program with extensive experience in set and prop design. Stay active and have fun with theatre games hosted by Aurora’s teaching artists on Friday afternoons in April at 2 p.m. Enjoy story time with the Aurora Theatre at 11 a.m. on April 16 and April 23. “Attend” on the theatre’s website or YouTube, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Sing that Thing! Choirs meet American Idol in this choir competition show from PBS. Each season follows choirs from auditions to the finale, with episodes running just 25-30 minutes. The website also includes master classes on everything from stage presence to vocal projection.
Get inspired at the museum! Take the Getty Museum challenge to recreate an artwork in their collection with three items you find around the house. Discover exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., including a vast multimedia collection. Color Our Collections offers online pages to print and color from museums worldwide, including the National Portrait Gallery. Study prints from Mexico’s leading artists from Minneapolis Institute of Art or visit the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. Explore “Jamestown and Beyond” with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). Discover Folkways recordings from the Smithsonian or make a collagasaurus. See the premier of Crossing Lines at the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia. Check out the High Museum of Art collection and try projects from the Get Creative at Home series.
Chalk it up! Another VMFA initiative invites students to use the museum’s artworks as inspiration for sidewalk chalk art projects! Start with a video tutorial on making chalk paint from the Chicago Children’s Museum!
A Sonnet a Day. Sir Patrick Stewart, classically trained actor known to many for his roles in the Star Trek and X-Men movie franchises, acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s and 1970s. He’s putting that training to good use, reading one of William Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets every day on social media. Learn more about the Bard’s 14-line poems and his other works from the Folger Shakespeare Library. Find free performances and activities from the education arm of Atlanta’s Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse.
Fame! Dancer, choreographer, and actor Debbie Allen is teaching free dance lessons live on social media. Search for #DanceWithDebbieAllen for her free Instagram Live classes, including some especially for young children. Follow #ENBatHome on social media for kitchen lessons from the English National Ballet.
Draw Dog Man or paint “happy little clouds.” Just a few of the artists sharing tips… Dav Pilkey of Dog Man and Captain Underpants fame is offering an “At Home” art series, plus read-alouds, through the Library of Congress. Storyteller/artist Mo Willems hosts daily Lunch Doodles with the Kennedy Center. Check out Draw Every Day with JKK, a dedicated YouTube channel from Jarrett J. Krosoczka. (You know him from Lunch Lady and Platypus Police Squad.) Find art demos for drawing dragons and dogs from award-winning author/illustrator Grace Lin. Try one (or more) of these 52 drawing challenges for kids! Take free art interpretation courses from New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Feeling nostalgic? Watch an episode of Bob Ross’ “Joy of Painting” (or all 403 episodes).
Iconic Design. Take virtual tours of the iconic architectural masterpieces of Frank Lloyd Wright on Instagram.
Play that Song! Go behind the scenes with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Brass students, develop your playing endurance with this short video. Sign up for three free months of guitar (or ukulele) lessons from Fender.
Snap! Learn how cameras work by building your own pinhole “camera” then take a camera or cellphone out into your neighborhood to capture images. Or, try your hand at making a stereoscope from the Victorian era.
Beatlemania! Learn about the Fab Four, the value of practice, and math with this online activity (ES/MS) from TeachRock. Beatles not your thing? Make cross-subject discoveries on the roots of Hip Hop (MS/HS), the Latin rhythms of “Despacito” (ES/MS), or the Grateful Dead and the Beat Culture. Artists often look to music for inspiration (ES). Learn how to listen to music and interpret what you hear and feel into your own art!
More fun at the theater (but @home). Check out free @home offerings on Facebook from the Center for Puppetry Arts. Watch In My Granny’s Garden from the Alliance Theater.