It's Eid vacation and that means it's time to have some fun bringing a little color into your life. Whether it's drawing, painting or creating a masterpiece with a box of crayons, playing with color can make you feel happy. See - just thinking about it has you smiling already! Art activities let you enjoy yourself either alone or with friends and art is great to share. Paint an amazing picture and then scan it or photograph it to send by email to your aunt or have it published in the Fun Times. To help you get into a creative mood, let's first see what some famous museums and galleries have to offer as inspiration. My favorite is the National Gallery of Art's incredible adventures with art at www.nga.gov/kids. I have spent many happy afternoons trying all the things to do at the NGA kids Art Zone. The Museum of Modern Art's “Destination Modern Art” is an interactive alien space mission to explore modern art. Try it at www.moma.org/interactives/destination/#. The Smithsonian invites students to discover art from around the world and play art games too at http://smithsonianeducation.org/students/explore_by_topic/everything_art.html. Our last gallery destination is Britain's Tate where a special “kids zone” at http://kids.tate.org.uk asks “Want some inspiration? Click GO!” Maybe you think you need some help to get started creating your masterpiece. How about some art lessons? If you have an iPad at home, “Kids! Learn to Draw” is a MEDL Mobile app that brings an outline of a drawing on the screen and then guides you through each step needed to create that picture. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers has a great free site called “Art Express” with lessons for students in grades 1 to 5 at www.harcourtschool.com/menus/art_express.html. For those with a Nintendo DS or 3DS then get the software “Art Academy.” It provides lessons for everyone from beginners to advanced art students. And don't miss the great art lessons given by Kirsty in Australia. She has free video art lessons online at http://www.kidsartclasses.com.au/lessons.html. Did you know that food can be art? Try the artistic recipes at www.parenting.com/gallery/fun-recipes-for-kids?pnid=112462. Pablo Picasso is a very famous modern artist. Create your own Picasso at www.picassohead.com. There are plenty of other art games to play online. Try the ones at: www.nickjr.com/games/all-shows/art/all-ages/index.jhtml www.disney.co.uk/disney-junior/art-attack www.artsology.com/index.php www.garfield.com/fungames/ClickNPaint/ClickNPaint.html www.crayola.com. Before you go off to find your pencils and paints, take a look at www.artsonia.com. This is the worlds' largest kids' art museum. Artsonia is showing over 17 million works of art sent in by children worldwide. Schools or parents can create art galleries for kids so their personal masterpieces can be seen by everyone. Begin at www.artsonia.com/parents
