Short description of the topic
Children get to know the work of Piet Mondrian and talk about his abstract paintings. They create and photograph their own artwork inspired by Mondrian and craft greeting cards for a special occasion.
Learning outcomes
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Competencies
- Glue
- Artistic competence: talking about art, observing art, recreating art
- Motor competence: developing fine motor skills
- Social-emotional competence: developing a positive self-image by presenting one’s own products
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Target group
4 years and up- Individual work
In groups
- Individual work
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Required materials
- Camera
- Scissors
- Glue
- Reproductions of the painter’s (Piet Mondrian’s) work
- Collage paper
- Drawing paper
- Colored felt-tip pens
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Materials
- Examples of Piet Mondrian’s artwork
https://www.piet-mondrian.org/paintings.jsp - Coloring papers with drawn lines
- Examples of Piet Mondrian’s artwork
Download
(.pdf 310.74 KB)
Description of the activity (step by step)
Preparation:
Show to the children the work of the painter Piet Mondrian. You can print out reproductions of his work or view them on the computer. Maybe you can find a monograph of his work in the library. Encourage a conversation about the work: What do you see? What is happening in the picture? How would you title this piece? Do you have any ideas on how the artist made the works? How would you do it?
Explain that you will be creating greeting cards for a special occasion (for example Christmas, father’s day, birthdays, etc.) and that you will find inspiration in the work of Mondrian.
Implementation:
Each child can choose the artwork he or she likes best. Then, after carefully observing the artwork, the child makes his or her own artwork by cutting strips of black collage paper and gluing them to a drawing paper, a technique that Mondrian liked to use. The child then fills the blank spaces with pieces of collage paper (red, yellow and blue). After the artwork is finished, the child photographs it.
Reflection:
Prepare greeting cards by folding pieces of cardboard paper. Hand out printed photos of artworks to children. Each child then cuts out and glues his or her artwork to the card to create a beautiful greeting card.
Talk to the children about the work process: how did they like it? Do their paintings remind them of something? Can they draw straight lines like that? Which tools could help them achieve that?
Variations and additional ideas
The children can photograph different products that they made (art products/crafts, wooden/lego constructions) and make their greeting cards for various occasions (such as birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s day, Christmas, etc.).
Other artworks could be introduced similarly, for example, the work of Kandinsky or aboriginal dot art.
Background information and didactical perspective
The Dutch painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) is one of the first pioneers of abstract painting. Most people find abstract works harder to understand then realistic art. They contain shapes, colors, layouts that do not act as physical objects. When looking at a picture we are often not sure what it depicts. It is easier to understand the work of a painter if we know what inspired him or her and which social circumstances gave rise to their art.
Find out more about the life and work of Mondrian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTIDrkRvCJI
Experience from kindergartens:
Children liked to recreate Mondrian’s artworks a lot. They recognized his characteristic lines in everyday objects and on the internet. They used his patterns for crafting new year’s decorations and even painted a wall in the playroom in this fashion.
Materials
Coloring papers with drawn lines
Photos of the activity
