• Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Sarah Lipoff Production
  • Who is Sarah?
Something Silly

. . . and maybe delicious.

  • Sarah Lipoff Production
  • Who is Sarah?
Art Activities for Kids  /  05/12/2011

Fine Art for Kids: Expressing with Haring

by Sarah Lipoff

© Sarah Lipoff 2011

What I love about Keith Haring’s art is that it is what it is. His images are simple with prominent strong black lines and areas of color. An American artist that grew up in the 1970’s, Haring was a bit different and hooked in with the alternative art crew thriving in New York during the late 70’s. His buddies, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf, took art outside the typical gallery and museum setting and hit the streets, bringing graffiti art to the mainstream. In the mid 80’s Haring found the perfect canvas for his art – unused subway panels. He used white chalk to create hundreds of images that entertained and moved the viewer.

His childlike style was eye-catching and different from anything else in the art world, and Haring began to gain attention from museums and galleries. He remained true to his unique style until his death in 1990. Let’s be honest, some of Haring’s images aren’t for the kiddies, but he is an inspiration and wonderful influence to all for creating art of all kinds.

So the other day, when I was feeling a bit down, I thought of Haring and the challenges he went through in life – and how he kept creating through it all. I figured the wee tot and I could make a moving and expressive creation in his style.

First we headed to HaringKids.com, a wealth of awesome Haring stuff, and checked out Haring’s artwork and the interactive activities on the website. Then we got out the crayons and started drawing.

My tot is a bit young to create forms using expressive lines, so I helped her by making an outline of a person using a black crayon. But, she wanted me to add a heart, a few stars and a moon, which seemed to fit in perfectly. Older kids can think of creating an expressive form with movement and lines with shapes surrounding it, just like Haring.

Encourage your child to press hard with the crayon, making strong dark lines, which also encourages her fine-motor skills. Once she’s satisfied with her expressive drawing, she can dig out those watercolor paints.

Invite your child to paint over her black crayon drawing and watch as those black lines pop through! She can use specific colors in areas of her painting, or cover the paper with one solid color.

Once her expressive form painting is dry, she can give it a title and find the perfect spot to display it – like the fridge!

Tags

  • art activities for kids
  • child development

Post navigation

Spring flower cards
Frozen orange pops

Share your thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

  • This DIY Herb Garden Is So Pretty
  • The Supreme Banana Bread
  • Tips for talking with your child about art
  • Spring vegetable quinoa pilaf
  • Cooking with kids: Super easy homemade tuna cakes

Recent Comments

  • Sarah Lipoff on Lightened-up summer chicken salad
  • Nicole P. on Lightened-up summer chicken salad
  • Stephanie on Cooking with kids: Super easy homemade tuna cakes
  • Bunny Roberge on Mango lemon marmalade
  • Ryan R. on Chocolate cream cheese cookies

Archives

  • May 2018
  • December 2017
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • July 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010

Categories

  • About Food
  • About Life
  • About Me
  • Art Activities for Kids
  • Cool Stuff
  • Dinner Every Night
  • Life with Child
  • The Bay Area
  • Uncategorized

Search by Tags

  • activities for children
  • Art
  • art activities for kids
  • art and children
  • art development
  • Baby Behavior
  • Baby Development
  • Being a Mom
  • blueberries
  • books about fall for kids
  • Celebrations
  • child behavior
  • child development
  • children
  • color theory
  • cooking
  • cooking with kids
  • Earth Day art activity
  • eating
  • fall art activity
  • fall leaves
  • family
  • fine-motor skills
  • food
  • Fox and Friends
  • Fox News Network
  • health
  • healthy cooking
  • Healthy eating
  • Holidays
  • learning about fall with kids
  • Life with Child
  • muffins
  • Parenting
  • Po Bronson
  • Praise Craze
  • projects
  • quinoa
  • recipes
  • recycled art
  • Red Dress Club
  • Sarah Lipoff
  • spring art activities
  • spring recipes
  • summer art activities

Recent Comments

  • Sarah Lipoff on Lightened-up summer chicken salad
  • Nicole P. on Lightened-up summer chicken salad
  • Stephanie on Cooking with kids: Super easy homemade tuna cakes
  • Bunny Roberge on Mango lemon marmalade
  • Ryan R. on Chocolate cream cheese cookies

Pages

  • Sarah Lipoff Production
  • Who is Sarah?

Categories

  • About Food
  • About Life
  • About Me
  • Art Activities for Kids
  • Cool Stuff
  • Dinner Every Night
  • Life with Child
  • The Bay Area
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • This DIY Herb Garden Is So Pretty
  • The Supreme Banana Bread
  • Tips for talking with your child about art
  • Spring vegetable quinoa pilaf
  • Cooking with kids: Super easy homemade tuna cakes

Archives

  • May 2018
  • December 2017
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • July 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • Elara by LyraThemes
  • Made by LyraThemes.com