Art Activities

Kids and adults can continue their creativity outside the NBMAA! Enjoy video lessons and downloadable art activities from our teaching artists in the comfort of your home.

Videos

Torn Paper Landscapes
Design your own landscape, inspired by the NBMAA's latest exhibition, The Poetry of Nature.


Eva LeWitt-Inspired Art Project
Create your own art project inspired by Eva LeWitt's monumental wall installation on view now at the NBMAA.

Salt Watercolor Paintings
Find out what happens when you add salt to watercolors in this artful science activity, inspired by Willard Metcalf's 1905 painting, Mountain Laurel. Learn more. 

Marker Watercolor Prints
See how inks interact with liquids in this artful science experiment, inspired by Alice Baber’s 1975 watercolor painting, The Light in the Depths. Learn more.


Downloadable Projects

Nature Close Up | Download
Study the flowers and plants around your home to create a large-scale illustration. When you finish your creation, try our Make a Match game with a family member!

Funky Frames Download
Construct a special frame to display a work of art or photograph in your home. When your frame is complete, grab some family members and play our Freeze Frames acting game!

Geometric Abstraction | Download
Play around with colors and shape, like an abstract artist. Then, take inspiration from your artwork to write a poem.

Shaking Up Shaker Chairs | Download
Design and build a chair that expresses your unique style. After, get the family together to play an exciting game of Musical Chairs!

Out Your Window | Download
Write weather logs and create daily drawings to see how the view outside your window changes over time.

Exquisite Corpse Download
Exquisite corpse (imaginary creature) is a creation that combines body parts from different sources into one image to create an imaginary creature. This can be done by yourself, and/or with friends or family members.

Make a Cityscape | Download
Create a vibrant pop-up sculpture inspired by the industrial landscapes in the Museum's permanent collection.  

Recyclable Weaving | Download
Inspired by the work of Anni Albers, this sustainable art project uses recycled materials and is inclusive and accessible to all. Using cardboard to create a miniature loom, anyone can create patterned weavings with materials readily found around the home. 

Self Portrait Puppets | Download
Learn to create your own self portrait puppet using paper bags.

Kara Walker-inspired Collage with Silhouettes | Download
Based on the work of Kara Walker, participants will create a collage in which they place silhouettes over a scene they have drawn or painted.

Torn Paper Landscape | Download
Learn how to create landscaped collages out of torn construction paper and other easily accessible materials. 

Cotton Ball Landscapes | Download
This lesson focuses on blending colors and creating interesting landscape textures using cotton balls, crayons, and paint.

Collaborative Line Art | Download
Work with friends or family to use a line drawing to make an original person or creature.

Narrative Art Activity | Download
Create your own original story accompanied by collaged and hand drawn images. 

Coloring Pages
Color your favorite NBMAA masterpieces with these downloadable coloring pages.

Alexander Calder,  The Red Candle | Download

Dale Chihuly, Blue and Beyond Blue  | Download 

Thomas Cole, The Clove, Catskills | Download

Judy Kensley Mckie, Grizzly Bear Bench | Download

Frederic Edwin Church, West Rock, New Haven | Download

Mount Lebanon Shakers, #6 Rocking Chair | Download

Benjamin West, Thetis Bringing Armor to Achilles | Download

Louise Nevelson, Untitled Download

Georgia O'Keeffe, East River from the 30th Story of Shelton Hotel | Download

Winslow Homer, Butterflies | Download

Edwin Austin Abbey, In the Choir | Download 

Solon H. Borglum, Just Born | Download

Micheal McLaughlin, Boys of Summer | Download

Louise Jones, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall  | Download

Charles Ethan Porter, Peonies | Download

Robert Henri, Spanish Girl of Segovia | Download

Negar Ahkami, Backsplash | Download

Francisca Bentitez, ASL Poetry Workshops Download

Susan Classen-Sullivan, Corpse 5 | Download

Sam Francis, Acrylic Polymer on Prepared Paper | Download

Romare Bearden, Out Chorus | Download 

Titus Kaphar, Jaavon & The Unknown Gentleman | Download 

Cindy Sherman, Untitled | Download