Camp Au Pair: Art Exploration
Roll up your sleeves for some artsy fun this week!! Art is a great way to engage with your host kids and have a great time together! 
- Have your host kids draw a self portrait or draw each other!
- Check out some cool magic color transfer ideas!
- Make colorful paper fans!
- Raid your recycling bin for some artistic options. Use your designs further to make cool photographs or brush paint on the edges and then press onto paper!
- Make your own sidewalk chalk paint!
- Try your hand at balloon art painting! For variety, how about using small balls?
- Playing with ice?
- How about incorporating a bit of math into your art activities?
For more great art ideas, check out the Au Pair in America Pinterest board!
The National Art Gallery has a wonderful option for kids. NGAkids interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history. Featuring a variety of art-making tools that encourage exploration and creativity, these computer-based activities are suitable for all ages. You can learn about each program by clicking on the associated thumbnail image. Download the Art Zone or NGAkids App applications to your Macintosh or Windows-based computer, or order the free CDs. There is also an iOS version of the NGAkids App for iPad.
Field Trips:
- How to have fun with kids in an art museum
- Art museum scavenger hunt for kids
- Taking kids to an art museum (tips)
- Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center is located in scenic Solomons, Maryland, where
the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay. The sculpture garden features a 1/4 mile walking path that meanders through the woods past permanent and loaned sculpture, including over thirty works on loan from the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art. Currently, they have a Fairy House exhibit along the trails and the Fairy Lolly is a wonderful place to play! A wonderfully whimsical natural play space where kids can run, jump, climb, perform and more! There is an art exploration room there as well in the gallery where kids can create art freely! Check with your host family to see if they are members! Admission fee. 
- Bonus: you can spot Cynthia’s photograph – Gifts from the Chesapeake on display in the Ebb & Flow exhibit until Sept. 2.
Virtual Field Trips:
- #MetKids is a digital feature made for, with, and by kids. Explore The Met with our interactive map and watch behind-the-scenes videos that feature kids just like you. With fun facts and creative projects for the galleries or at home, #MetKids has been inspired, tested, and approved by real kids ages 7–12.
Art work by Sarah, age 7