Living Art

Bring art to life by encouraging your child to pretend to be a horse featured in Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum.

What you’ll need:

  • Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum and larger copies of some of the artworks presented in the book
  • camera for shooting video

Directions:

  • After reading Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum aloud to your child, choose three works of art presented in the book. Find images of those works of art online, and print out large copies.
  • Have your child look closely at one of the printouts and use their imagination to answer these questions about the horse or horses:
    • What is this horse doing?
    • What sounds would this horse make?
    • How would it move?
    • What do you think this horse is thinking?
  • Talk with your child about the clues in the artwork that inspired their answers. Then have your child look closely at the other two printouts and answer the same questions for each. Ask your child: Why are the horses in different artworks different?
  • Now have your child put their ideas into action! In front of an audience and while recording, have your child demonstrate the movements, mood, and sounds they see in each work of art. Watch the video together to let your child compare the artistic interpretations they made.

If your child is enthusiastic about bringing art to life, expand the show with different works of art, props, and music!