Classroom Activities

These Classroom Activity packets are full of information and suggestions based on a single work of art from VMFA’s collection.

Classroom Activities
Art Schticks! Videos to introduce children to the museum

Art Schticks! Videos to introduce children to the museum

  • Collection: American Art, 21st-Century Art, European Art
  • Culture/Region: America, Europe
  • Subject Area: Dance, Fine Arts
  • Grade Level: Preschool-5

Episode 1: We’re excited to introduce a new children’s video series called ArtShticks! Join Taye and his sister Kayla as they visit VMFA, learn about museum etiquette, and experience art with Curator Dr. Specs. This is a perfect resource for parents and teachers looking to introduce young children to the museum. Episode 2: Previously sibling…

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Classroom Activity: Chinese Dragon Puppet

Classroom Activity: Chinese Dragon Puppet

  • Collection: East Asian Art
  • Culture/Region: China
  • Subject Area: Dance, Fine Arts, Music
  • Grade Level: K-5

Learn about the importance of the dragon in Chinese culture. Students will understand why dragon puppets were used at various festivals. They will also explore the tradition of the Chinese Dragon Dance by creating their own dragon puppet!

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Classroom Activity: Chinese New Year Lantern

Classroom Activity: Chinese New Year Lantern

  • Collection: East Asian Art
  • Culture/Region: China
  • Subject Area: Fine Arts
  • Grade Level: Elementary

The Lantern Festival is an event celebrated in Chinese culture on the 15th day of the first month in the lunar calendar. During the festival, paper lanterns are hung and illuminated at night. Students can decorate their own paper lantern with paint and ribbon!

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Classroom Activity: Eastman Johnson

Classroom Activity: Eastman Johnson

  • Collection: African American Art, American Art
  • Culture/Region: America
  • Subject Area: African American, History and Social Science, Visual Arts
  • Grade Level: k-5

Eastman Johnson painted A Ride for Liberty—The Fugitive Slaves in 1862, a year after the Civil War began. It depicts an enslaved African American family—father, mother, young boy, infant—fleeing on horseback.

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Classroom Activity: George Catlin

Classroom Activity: George Catlin

  • Collection: American Art, Native American Art
  • Culture/Region: America
  • Subject Area: History and Social Science, Visual Arts
  • Grade Level: K-5

George Catlin traveled the North American continent from 1830 – 1838 chronicling native people and their ways of life in paintings and prints. His adventures resulted in more than six hundred portraits and scenes of rituals. Explore this portrait of the Crow Chief Ba-da-ah-chon-du.

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Classroom Activity: Greek Vase

Classroom Activity: Greek Vase

  • Collection: Ancient Art
  • Culture/Region: Greece
  • Subject Area: History and Social Science, Visual Arts
  • Grade Level: K-5

The scene on this amphora depicts two Greek warriors, Ajax and Achilles, taking a break from the action during the Trojan War to play a board game. Athena, goddess of war, stands over them. Although Achilles and Ajax are playing a game, they both seem ready to jump back into action at anytime: they are still holding their spears. Learn more about this ancient Greek vase.

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Classroom Activity: Hunter’s Tunic

Classroom Activity: Hunter’s Tunic

  • Collection: African Art
  • Culture/Region: Africa
  • Subject Area: History and Social Science, Visual Arts
  • Grade Level: K-5

The Bamana (bah-mah’-nah) people, one of many ethnic groups in Mali, are an African farming and hunting culture living on the western edge of the Sahara Desert. Tunics such as this Hunter’s Shirt traditionally play an important part in rituals and ceremonies occurring before a hunt.  Learn more about this special Hunter’s Shirt.

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Classroom Activity: Indian Architecture

Classroom Activity: Indian Architecture

  • Collection: South Asian Art
  • Culture/Region: India
  • Subject Area: Fine Arts
  • Grade Level: 1-4

Learn about the elements of architecture commonly found in India during the Mughal empire. Create your own cut-paper temple, mosque, or mausoleaum using these elements of architecture.

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Classroom Activity: Make a Decorative Scroll

Classroom Activity: Make a Decorative Scroll

  • Collection: East Asian Art
  • Culture/Region: East Asia
  • Subject Area: Fine Arts
  • Grade Level: Elementary

Painting has been an important part of the Chinese culture for centuries. Learn about how scrolls were an artistic and scholarly form of expression highly valued in the Forbidden City, and assemble and paint a scroll of your own!

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Classroom Activity: Make a Faux Jade Sculpture

Classroom Activity: Make a Faux Jade Sculpture

  • Collection: East Asian Art
  • Culture/Region: China
  • Subject Area: Fine Arts
  • Grade Level: Elementary

Learn about how jade was a material often found in sculptures that were discovered in ancient Chinese tombs. Students will understand the importance of animal symbolism and use of objects as offerings in ancient Chinese culture. This is also an exercise in fine motor skills to mold 3-D forms and create a representational animal such as…

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