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Still life · Visual Arts · Art Appreciation
Preschool Lesson Plan Printable Activities

Vincent Van Gogh 1888
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers

Suggested themes for still life painting: Flowers, Fruit, and Vegetables
We are going to introduce our children to another topic in art: a still life.

A still life is a picture of inanimate objects, such as fruit, food, flowers, dishes, books, or musical instruments, usually grouped on a flat surface. The subject matter of a still life's is rarely important for its own sake; rather, it most often serves as a showcase for the painter's compositional skill and ability to render detail and texture.

Materials:

• white paper or easel paper
• For a small still life picture > Drawing and writing paper
• coloring or painting tools

Activity 1: What is a still life? An explanation for young children:
"A still life shows things that people like to see or use." View some examples here. With that in mind, let's have fun with this art experience.

Activity 2: I Can Make A Still life
1. Children will pick three favorite objects: their favorite fruit or veggie, or toy stuffed animals, dolls, etc. Ask them to place them in a table in a grouping any way they like. These should be right in front of where they can see them to draw or paint.

2. Set a paper, or easel pad paper with crayons, paints, markers etc. in front of where toy grouping is, and tell the children to try to paint/draw the grouping of their favorite things to make a still life picture.

3. Many children will love to discuss and talk about their picture either as they work on it or after they are done. It is a wonderful opportunity to talk about the objects, the colors, etc. Always refer to the picture as a still life. After the child is done ask him or her to give a name to their still life. Write the name on the artwork.