Smarthistory is a great resource not only for learning in anticipation of travel but we’ve used it as a way to brush up on our art and history during the trip.
It was started by Drs Beth Harris and Steven Zucker, two art history professors who wanted to make art and art history more accessible for people. In it’s simplest form, it is 5 minute videos of art experts talking about works of art for the benefit of novices (like us!). They go to the Louvre, turn on an audio recorder and in a beautifully unscripted way discuss what they see.
For family travelers it is a gold mine! If really interested in art you can use their partnership with Khan Academy to take a free open source art history course with videos and practice exercises or you can simply watch the hundreds or thousands of videos from all over the world.
The Playlist
Smarthistory’s YouTube channel is not only searchable (e.g., “Germany,” “Gothic cathedrals,” “Michelangelo”) but includes “Tools for Understanding Art” (2 min “chiaroscuro” video would help you understand Leonardo’s work we learned about here), “Videos by Period” (Renaissance, Medieval, Mesoamerican art, etc.), mini-courses like “Gothic France” which we’ll be adding to our to-do list, as well as location-specific playlists.
Above is their Uffizi playlist. We watched this before our Italy trip, as well as the night before we actually went to to Uffizi in Florence. With short 5 minute videos kids can watch them on the tablet or phone and begin to build some anticipation and expectation of what they’re going to see in the next day or two. Our kids were actually more interested in seeing the videos after the visit which seemed counterintuitive but still a win for family travel and learning!
Family conversation topic: Consider divvying up responsibility of being the family art “expert” from sight to sight. Who wants to be in charge of paintings, or sculpture, or of an entire location (like a Scottish castle)?
Context is key
A little bit of context goes a long way, kids and adults alike. Take some of your evening downtime and do a little fun “homework” before a big day at a museum. Alternatively, consider using these playlists to help kids think about what they’d like to see and do on the trip.
Rembrandt’s portraits are iconic in theory but listening to the enthusiasm from these experts and knowing a little about the artist and the works (in 5 minutes) gives the kids a chance to connect with and see relevance and makes the experience come alive.
talk soon,
Dan & Betsy
3-6 years old – watch the videos first yourself in case they have imagery you’d prefer the kids not to see (images of war or sex); otherwise the videos are a great starting point for conversations about art. Focus on just what they can objectively see. Colors, shapes, objects. What do they think is happening in the picture?
7+ – likely be able to watch all videos; more detailed version of the conversation above “what do you think the painting is about? What do you think the artist is trying to say here?
10+ – they might be able to put together a playlist themselves (to match your itinerary, or just their own interests)
13+ – ask the big kids to either create the playlist of to leverage existing playlists into a presentation where they “pitch” the family on what they want to see at a specific museum or location (“I think we should see the following Rembrandt portraits because….” (also, the big kids might enjoy the art history course over on Khan Academy mentioned above)