School Age S.T.E.A.M. Storytime & Craft: What Can You Do with A Dot?

 

Similar program to  Memory Cafe (YMCA) Pointillism

Memory Cafe (YMCA) Pointillism

 

 I was invited as a storyteller for the Basking Ridge YMCA "Memory Cafe"  - a place of respite for adults with dementia & their caregivers. 

Talked about how sometimes we are afraid to create art, until somebody shows they have confidence in us.

Read The Dot by Peter Reynolds

Then talked about the Neo-Impressionist art movement "Pointellism" 
Asked who had taken kids/grandkids to an art museum

Said about to read about an art museum visit that turns into a fantasy as the people climb in and out of the paintings! 

Read Katie's Sunday Afternoon by James Mayhew while projecting slides of the works mentioned so everyone could see them in more detail

Afterwards, participants created their own pointillist artworks - supplies: Qtips, washable tempera paint, plastic palettes, cardstock paper (with pre-printed outlines & samples for this group)

More Ideas here

Memory Cafe 11/26/25

Picture This: Figures in Motion: The Paintings & Sculpture of Edgar Degas

Picture This: Figures in Motion: The Paintings & Sculpture of Edgar Degas

Kindergarten through 5^th grade.

“Join us as we learn about the people in Degas’ famous paintings, then try our hand in capturing motion on paper and in three dimensions.”

· Browse Degas and the Dance (J759.4 RUB) A Weekend with Degas (J759.4 SKI), Edgar Degas (759.4 VEN)

· Read aloud: Edgar Degas: Paintings that Dance (J759.4 COC), Degas and the Little Dancer : a Story about Edgar Degas (Picture Book Anholt) and/or Marie in Fourth Position (Picture Book Littlesugar)

· Have kids create pastel drawings showing movement (dark construction paper, pastels) and/or action figures (pipe cleaners, foil, masking tape, playdough, tissue paper, google eyes, fabric, etc. for decorating)

· Resources: Picture This: Activities and Adventures in Impressionism (759.054 RAI) pp.24-29 Pastels, Action figures, Start with Art: People (J704.942 LAC) p. 16 drawing with different materials, Impressionism (759.054 BOL) p.20 , The Usborne Art Treasury (J750.11 DIC) p. 60-63 Pastel Dancers, My Art Book (DK) (J745.5 MY) p.34-39 “Freeze Frame”

9.07

Picture This – Art Exploration for Kids “The Dot”

Kindergarten through 5^th grade.

“What can you do with a dot? Many things indeed! We’ll share Peter Reynold’s book The Dot, look at a style of art called pointillism, and then create our own paintings entirely from dots!”
(We will be using paint so please dress appropriately.)

· Tom Chapin CD track 11 “Flowers are Red” (by Harry Chapin) playing as kids enter.

· Let kids browse books on Impressionism, Pointillism, Monet, Seurat, Pisarro

· Read The Dot (Picture Book Reynolds)

· Talk about Impressionism (smears of color), science of color blending by eye led to Pointillism – show color cards (cards with dots of different colors – what does eye do when looked at from afar?)

· Read Katie’s Sunday Afternoon (Picture Book Mayhew)

· Show pages of impressionist & pointillism paintings, esp. Seurat and La Grande Jatte (J759.4 BUR)
· Show pointillist & impressionist pages from Picture This! Activities & Adventures in Impressionism (J759.054 RAI) p.8-9 (mention Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ), p.16-17

· Have kids paint using QTIPS to make dots – supplies: paper, paint, paint cups, QTIPS, paper towels

· Photograph the art & artists. (We do this at each program & then display a collage of their photos)

· Resources: Monet & the Impressionists for Kids (J759.054 SAB), The Usborne Art Treasury (J750.11 DIC) p.48-51, Start with Art: People (J704.942 LAC), The Art Book for Children v.2 (J709 REN) Seurat “Spots” p.72-75 (Additional books: Press Here – Tullet, The Book with a Hole- Tullet, Dot – Intriago)