Even though we are temporarily closed, the conversations around art never stop, and there are many great art-related books, podcasts, and movies out there. For this round, we asked members of our team to recommend their favorites for kids of all ages. Discover more Staff Picks in the first, second, third, and fourth installments in our series.

CREATE 

Art Making with MoMA: 20 Activities for Kids Inspired by Artists at The Museum of Modern Art by Elizabeth Margulies and Cari Frisch

Chosen by: John Connolly, Associate Director of Marketing

What it’s about: How to engage your kids in some creative art making using household materials. No batteries required.

Why it’s recommended: Lock up your recycling bins when this book arrives at the door! All the projects are fun and do not center around painting. The instructions are very clear, and in general, it’s a beautifully put together book. My four-year-old twins were only too happy to find the raw materials necessary to complete the projects and follow the steps. They couldn’t finish all the projects, but older kids could probably fly through them. It really opened up their imagination.

READ 

Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats

Chosen by: Karoline Mansur, Assistant Registrar, Collections Management 

What it’s about: It’s about a boy named Peter who lives in the city and learns how to whistle to call his dog.  

Why it’s recommended: This was one of my husband’s favorite books when he was small, and we both enjoyed reading his original, well-read copy to our son. I love the pared-down collage elements—blocks of color, texture, and pattern illustrate Peter’s world at home and in his neighborhood. The illustrations can also help create a reference point for children to understand and appreciate other collage artists, such as Romare Bearden or Kurt Schwitters. Also, it’s about a dog and we love dogs!

WATCH

Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time by Thomas Riedelsheimer

Chosen by: John Neely, Videographer

What it’s about: Rivers and Tides documents artist Andy Goldsworthy at work, constructing ephemeral sculptures from leaves, stones, and ice, using only his bare hands in a race against time.

Why it’s recommended: Watching Andy Goldsworthy transform simple, common materials into transcendent art is unexpectedly riveting and suspenseful—and accessible to anyone who has ever built a sandcastle. My 11-year-old daughter loves the film because Goldsworthy’s method blurs the lines between play and artistic production, and it has inspired her to make art from found objects in our backyard, on mountaintops, and beyond. As a bonus, many of his site-specific permanent works remain accessible for viewing outside, including Watershed at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum near Cambridge.

CREATE/WATCH

@spinpainting on TikTok

Chosen by: Evelyne Reyes, Financial Assistant

What it’s about: A TikTok user shares videos of how to make colorful spin paintings, created by pouring paint on canvas and then spinning the canvas.

Why it’s recommended: My kids use blank canvas, acrylic paint, cups, and blue painter’s tape. They put tape on the canvas where they do not want the paint to splatter and fill three cups with different colors of paint. Then they go outside and pour the cups of paint on the canvas. After the cups are emptied, they spin the canvas in the air. They love to see how the paint looks in the end. My daughter paints the canvas white or another color when she has another idea and starts over.

READ

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

Chosen by: Lateisha Copeland-Guadarrama, Museum Attendant, and her daughter Emilia

What it’s about: A girl named Camilla Cream secretly loves lima beans but doesn’t want to eat them because her friends dislike them and she wants to be just like them.

Why it’s recommended: It’s colorful. My daughter and I got more than one message from the book. One being it’s okay to like different things than your friends, but y’all can still be friends—it’s okay to be an individual or just yourself. I think when people read the book they will find their own messages as well as see the ones my daughter and I have talked about with each other. 

CREATE

Mapmaking with Children by David Sobel

Chosen by: Ian Callahan, Senior Architect, Digital Infrastructure and Emerging Technology, and father of 5

What it’s about: Encouraging children to explore nature, the built environment, and imaginative or literary landscapes through amateur cartography.

Why it’s recommended: Whether they are personal, literary, or historical, stories take place in particular environments. The geographies of these places, real or imagined, can be visualized by children through their own mark-making. It’s a great way to encourage children (or anyone, really) to visually explore relationships and connect parts to the whole story or the big picture.

READ

The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater

Chosen by: Angela Chang, Conservator of Objects and Sculpture, Head of the Objects Lab, and Assistant Director, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies

What it’s about: After a seagull drops a bucket of orange paint on his house, Mr. Plumbean decides to incorporate the splot into a fantastic redesign of his house, located on an otherwise “neat street.”

Why it’s recommended: This popular book is fun to read and reread aloud, and it is especially poignant now, while our lives are intensely domestic. Mr. Plumbean finds home in his self-expression and patiently coaxes his shocked neighbors to come out of their conformist shells: “My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams.”

WATCH/LISTEN 

Classical Baby

Chosen by: Steve Deane, Exhibition Production Specialist, Collections Management

What it’s about: Classical music, dance, and art are explored by a baby and animal friends.

Why it’s recommended: Available on DVD and by streaming online, these episodes are a fun way to introduce kids to art, music, and dance. They are a good “wind down” before bed option, with their soothing music (though some parts will have the kids dancing along). Our family favorite is a segment with two hippos making a pizza.

CREATE 

Three-Dimensional Hands in Complementary Colors

Chosen by: Kara Howgate-Mello, Development Coordinator, Institutional Advancement

What it’s about: An art activity in which kids create a three-dimensional drawing of their hand using parallel lines and colors.

Why it’s recommended: This art project provides kids with the opportunity to explore the concept of the color wheel and understand what it means for colors to be complementary. It is also a wonderful introduction to abstract art. Here’s a few websites to get you started: Mr. O’s Art Room, Crayola, and Handimania’s video.