Art appreciation (or the study of art history) need not be difficult.  You don’t need a fancy curriculum or a complicated plan.  You simply need the desire to enjoy, along with your children, the beauty of God’s creation as depicted over the centuries by outstanding artists.

So, where do you start?  I like to accomplish several goals at one time (the proverbial “killing two or three birds with one stone”) so I tie in art appreciation, art history and hands-on art projects with the historical period we are currently studying.  An excellent resource for helping you do this is the book Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga. (ISBN 0935607099)  This book features over 90 different artists in chronological order from the early 1300’s to the present. (If you’re studying history before the 1300’s…see the tips section below) What I love about this book is that, for each artist, there is a brief biography, an explanation of the artist’s style and a nice little hands-on art project that typifies that artist’s style or technique.  These projects are especially suitable for children ages 4 – 12, but I’ve found that teens can also enjoy many of them.