The following is by contributor Robin Zipporah of The Not-Ever-Still Life.

This is my first favorite painting. I’ve since had many others, but you always remember your first loves, right? It’s called Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash by Giacomo Balla from 1912. It hangs in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, not far from my childhood home.  I first saw it when I was four or five. I’d stand before it and stare.

Do you talk to your kids about art? When we look at art with our children and discuss what they see, we build important skills that carry over into the rest of their education. Talking about visual arts promotes critical thinking as well as language and literary skills. Talking about art, where everyone holds a different opinion and everyone sees something different, promotes asserting one’s opinion and respecting someone else’s. It activates engagement, debate, and learning to understand multiple perspectives. And it’s fun!

I’m an art historian and mama of three young kids. And I want to walk you through talking with your favorite small people about art. Children make excellent art appreciators. So today I’m introducing a new series to Simple Kids: Artists in Residence. 

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