Don’t forget to add your answer when visiting the beatnik lounge in the Hamilton Building at the Denver Art Museum.  You are helping create a perpetually changing work of art.

I didn’t participate because I thought it was too contrived   But the kids loved doing it.  Bring your own pen; their’s were out of ink. 

Going to the next floor of the Hamilton Building, the new addition designed by Daniel Libeskind.  Standing at the bottom looking up, or peering down from the upper floors, gives many a weird sense of vertigo.

I don’t know if it was because it was a cold, rainy Denver day, but free day at the DAM was packed.  Add to that a lot of crabby docents(we went to 3 different areas of the museum and in each area, were accosted by a docent and our children told to not touch things(they weren’t!!  Not even close!  And we were right there, one adult with one child!)), and I was quite glad to leave the Museum after 3 hours.

We spent much of our time in the Native American exhibits, catering to Camille’s current interest in all things Native American.  The beadwork/pottery/basketweaving/etc was all gorgeous.  I especially love the teepee made (if memory serves me) in the late 1890s/early 1900s.

From there we moved into the new wing and to the modern art exhibits.  We recently watched the 2nd Installment of the Young Indiana Jones series where he meets Picasso and Baroque.  We saw several examples of work by both, as well as a Pollack(the drip painter) which was huge and beautiful. 

After this it was just so crowded that the kids(and I, I admit, more than they)were on sensory overload and were all ready to leave.

DH and I decided we need to break down and get a membership.  They have an amazing exhibit from the Louvre right now that I am aching to see.  If all of us were to see that on the free day, as well as see the Impressionists exhibit coming in February, it would cost more than a Family Membership(a very reasonable $70)!  With a family membership we would get free tickets to those exhibits, PLUS get to see them on a non crowded free day with Docents in a better mood.

We have started viewing the “Young Indiana Jones” series which was recently released on DVD.  I remember seeing these on television as a pre-teen/teenager and loving them.  When I found out they were coming out on DVD, I thought they would be perfect to use as an introduction to study topics. 

DVD-1 Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt:

1. Watch the DVD and Documentary Extras
2. Read Usborne’s section on Ancient Egypt(or other age appropriate books from the library)
3. Visit an exhibit about Ancient Egypt(The following are available in Denver Area)
   1. WOW Children’s Museum In Lafayette(Egypt:  Mysteries and Puzzles)–this was great!
   2. Denver Museum of Nature and Science  (Fantastic Display with 2 mummies and interesting video, teaching resources available at their website)
   3. Denver Art Museum  We like to go on Free Days, the first Saturday of Each Month–this is the most child friendly art museum I have ever been too! 
4. Mummify a Chicken
5. Do Egyptian Activities

For a Charlotte Mason type activity, we decided to create our own fall wreath from organic materials found on a nature walk in our neighborhood. Armed with buckets, Emily and Camille spent an hour riding bikes and scooters up and down the sidewalk, buckets banging their legs, looking for beautiful leaves to use on our wreath. They also collected crabapples from the ground next to a crabapple tree and cool pieces of bark.

Today, we cut a circle from a big piece of cardboard(a GREAT way to incorporate Math and show its value to Art: we decided what diameter we wanted the wreath to be, divided that by two(to be the radius of the circle), measured a piece of yarn that size and tied it to a pencil. The other end of yarn was attached to the center of the piece of cardboard. We learned that the diameter of a circle is twice the radius.

After cutting the cardboard piece out and cutting an appropriate sized hole in the center, we used a hot glue gun(well, I used the hot glue gun) and attached a layer of leaves to the cardboard. Then we used the other things we found(berries/bark/etc) to add dimension.

Husband was unsure about the “plan” before we did it and was pleasantly surprised at how nicely it turned out.

Not bad for a free art project! Learning points we touched upon included:

• Deciduous and Coniferous Trees
• Geometry–radius/diameter/circumference of a circle
• multi-media art–creating dimension and texture