Many art galleries run a schools programme but some also have specially designed nursery workshops. Catherine Gaunt went to join in
I'm in the art room of the labyrinthine basement of London's Tate Britain gallery with an excited bunch of three- and four- year-olds. Today these ten children from New River Green Early Years Centre in Islington, London, have come for 'Who is that?', a workshop that teaches them to look at people in paintings and sculpture and encourages them to think about comparing and describing them.
It is part of Tate Britain's pre-school programme called 'I can see 1, 2, 3'. You can choose to explore three different themes - besides 'Who is that?' there is 'Shape quest' or 'Journey into light and dark'.
'Shape quest' involves the children learning to recognise shape, pattern and colour. It builds on work children may have already done in nursery, learning the differences between shapes. 'They may already know what a circle is but might not know an oval yet,' says Vanessa Clifton, the freelance artist running today's session.
'Journey into light and dark' explores how artists use colour and tone to convey atmosphere. The children might look at stormy seascapes, landscapes at night and maybe even some abstract work.
Young children can gain much from a gallery visit. As Vanessa explains, 'It's building on their vocabulary, it's reinforcing and extending their learning and it's giving them a new cultural experience. For most of these children it's the first time they've ever been to an art gallery. We go through and explain what a gallery is about.'
Upstairs in the gallery Vanessa has chosen three very different works for today's group. The first is a painting in the war room by the artist Mark Gertler, 'The Merry-Go-Round' (1916). At its deepest level this very colourful painting was Gertler's reaction as a conscientious objector to the horrors of the First World War. But for young children, the activity of the merry-go-round and the colours of the soldiers and the horses become a focus for discussion. Vanessa asks the children questions about what they can see in the painting.
Have you been on a merry-go-round? Did you think it was too fast - were you scared? What are the soldiers wearing? Are they laughing? How many horses/groups of people are there? The children join in enthusiastically and then join hands to make their own merry-go-round. As Vanessa says, the idea is to keep the group constantly engaged and physical role-play activities are vital to this.
We move on to a different room and a painting that Vanessa describes as 'very quiet' - 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose', painted by the American artist John Singer Sargent in 1885. The picture shows two young girls in an English country garden just after sunset. The girls, wearing white dresses, are lighting Japanese lanterns with tapers. Vanessa asks the children to make the shape of the lilies with their hands, as the petals open into bloom. She talks them through the painting, asking them questions about the girls. How old are they?
Do you think they are sisters? Are they rich or poor girls? The children count the lanterns in the picture and go on to drawing their own, colouring in the flames with red and orange crayons. By asking children to fill the page with their lantern Vanessa's aim is for them to become more aware of their co-ordination and think about what they're trying to draw.
The final work on the tour is a Henry Moore stone sculpture, 'Recumbent Figure' (1938). Vanessa has the children identify parts of the sculpture's body and asks how we know it's a woman. One child pipes up, 'Boobies!' Vanessa asks for volunteers to become living sculptures, encouraging the children to bend their arms and legs to make hole shapes with their bodies to echo Henry Moore's work.
The session ends in the art room with every child creating their own poses, lying down on a piece of paper and being drawn around by Vanessa. Finally, the children are introduced to colour mixing, making a fiery orange with red and yellow paints.
Sue Moss, the children's nursery teacher, says the children benefit from seeing art by adults, which stimulates conversations about their own artwork. 'It's brilliant that they've had opportunities for discussion and to really closely observe work.'
And the children's verdict? Gertler's 'Merry-Go-Round' was a popular choice with Natalie ('I like to go fast!') and Stefan, who liked the horses. Quilan said, 'I like the girls with the flowers and the lanterns', while Sophy enjoyed 'making shapes with her legs'.
Needless to say, Sue Moss is planning a return visit very soon.
