Recommended Website:
Leonardo’s Workshop
Play a fun game that will teach your kids about art techniques. At this website you accept a mission to travel back in time to Leonardo da Vinci’s studio. There you will investigate items in his studio in an effort to find clues to the mystery you are trying to solve. This is where the real art lesson begins.
Click on an item on Leonardo’s desk — and discover a perspectograph. Learn how to use it and then use your mouse to draw a horizon line on a painting — then draw an orthogonal line and discover the vanishing point!
Click on paints in the studio and discover how da Vinci and other painters of the Renaissance made their own tempera, oil, and fresco paints.
Look at Leonardo’s sketches and drawings to see some of his scientific and military inventions.
Click on a skeleton and discover how the study of human anatomy helped Leonardo determine proportion in his paintings and drawings. With your keyboard assemble a drawing of Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man!
Once you have collected clues, you step back through the time machine and solve the mystery. But that’s only the beginning….now you can try other art technique demonstrations with nature figures and more. You can also play many computer games and try activities that improve your understanding of art concepts. Teachers can get tips for instructing students in art as well. For more games, click on the “Back to games” link at the bottom of any page.
This is one of the best sites we have seen for art instruction. Plan to spend lots of time here — you and your kids will really enjoy it!