Hangout with Art: Say It with Art

Put yourself in another person’s shoes by “giving” a work to someone else.

There are two ways to do this activity.

Within your class
Throw everyone’s name in a hat, from which students will draw another student’s name. Students look through the galleries for a work of art that they think the person whose name they drew would like (for younger students, we suggest containing to a single room). When the group comes back together, do a “gallery walk,” and have each student point out the piece they chose and explain why they chose that work for their classmate. Afterwards, discuss what the process was like. How was it to think about art with someone else’s point of view in mind?

With students’ family
Instead of doing this within a class, you can also encourage students to choose a work of art for a family member while at the Museum. They might take a photo with a cell phone or write down the artwork and look it up on collections.mam.org back in your classroom. Have students print out, sketch, or write about the artwork and why they chose it for their family member.