Art - Kid On The Town

Arts & Crafts

Ignite at-home creativity (plus explore games, videos and art history) at these websites & instagram accounts for curious kids.

Visit NYC's open museums for more inspiration and see our guide to educational websites.

Art For Kids Hub

Follow along step by step as a professional artist and his kid draw animals, emojis, people, vehicles and more. Clear, simple steps turn anyone into an illustrator.

Children’s Museum of the Arts’ blog features how-to videos and detailed instructions for art projects like Paper Chains of Kindness and Collaborative Drawing Games. Projects can be adapted for different ages and made with materials around the house.

Cards For Seniors

Make cheerful cards for isolated seniors. Use big print (not cursive) so the card is easy to read. Provide stickers and stencils to help the younger kids. Adults can make cards too. A great use for all the artwork kids bring home.

Join the NYC-based Caring By Card Nursing Home Project, donate through

BUSY TODDLER

Find a trove of educational, easy-to-set up creative and sensory activities from a K-1 teacher turned SAHM. So many great ideas, quick & easy to messy messy, babies to tweens plus links to useful art supplies. Follow their great instagram account for daily inspiration.

DAYS WITH GREY

An educator and mom to 3 shares daily ‘Breakfast Invitations,’ easy-to-set-up sensory and art activities for preschoolers and toddlers.

NEW YORK CITY CHILDREN’S THEATER

Lovely local kids theater company provides entertaining and enriching activities for little ones inspired by past productions including art projects, theater games, storytimes, downloadable activity books and video sing-alongs.

VIRTUAL MUSEUM TOURS

Take virtual journeys to over 1,200 museums around the world via Google Arts & Culture. See collections and gallery views of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, Mexico City’s Museum of Anthropology, Paris’s Musée d’Orsay and more (plus NYC faves like the Whitney, Guggenheim and MoMA).

MoMA Families At Home

MoMA provides resources and ideas—from art-making activities to books and films—to spark creativity and fun at home. Explore artworks in MoMA’s collection through activities (available in English and Spanish), watch favorite kid-friendly short films with prompts to spark discussion, dig deeper into Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures, find favorite Children’s Books about Art, listen…

Dav Pilkey At Home

Get creative and have fun with the creator of cult favorites Dog Man and Captain Upderpants. Watch short videos of Pilkey drawing and reading aloud and download printable activity sheets, drawing guides, comic book creators, games and more.

Outschool

Explore just about any interest from math to Minecraft to piano with passionate teachers over live video chat. Choose from over 15,000+ classes including Harry Potter and Star Wars-themed explorations of explore history, art, science and more.

Format include one-time drop-ins, weekly camps and semester classes.

For ages 3-18.

TATE KIDS

Play art-inspired games, take cheeky quizzes, find art activities, and share your art on a fun website from British museums Tate and Tate Modern. Find detailed instructions for activities such as “think like the artist Alberto Giacometti” and create interesting portraits and landscapes.

NYSCI At Home

Find tons of games, activities, experiments and projects from Queen’s New York Hall of Science. At-Home STEM resources encourage open-ended exploration and imaginative learning. Learn about physics, engineering, design, biology, math, chemistry and more with videos, instructions for experiments and art projects, interactive graphic novels, engaging apps and more.

The Yo-Yo Mo Show: Musical Doodling

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Mo Willems, author/illustrator the beloved Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Knuffle Bunny, and the Elephant and Piggy series, offer a series of playful experiments that show how art and music inspire each other. Watch, listen and join in from home with paper and doodling implements.

Also…

Cooper Hewitt Online Learning

Follow along with design activities (with clear, well-designed instructions) to create protoypes, chairs, zines, posters and more. Also explore design case studies, remarkable female and LBGQT+ creators, the digital mansion, and museum exhibitions. Great graphics, video and easy-to-understand text for all ages.

Brooklyn Museum Learn and Teach

Explore exhibition or objects from the encyclopedic Brooklyn Museum in-depth with printable teaching prompts and activity ideas, developed by the museum’s professional educators. Includes new mini art lessons for ages 2–6 and 7 & up. Also dream up zany stories, while practicing parts of speech, with Brooklyn Museum Mad Libs and brush up on your…

THE ART GARDEN

Explore a variety of projects featuring paint, collage/mixed media, printmaking, 3-Dimension, recycled art, children’s books, process art, nature activities, holidays and seasons, sensory, and play ideas from an elementary art teacher. Frequently posts fun ideas on her instagram @theartgardenblog.

NEW VICTORY ARTS BREAK

Learn circus tricks, songwriting, puppet making, tap dance, magic and more skills inspired by the diverse shows at New Victory Theatre, an amazing NYC performing arts venue for families. Watch excerpts from past and sadly cancelled productions. Currently featuring partners from around the world.

Support Museums

In a win/win for all, refresh your library/playroom at expertly curated online shops of local museums. Find great toys, books, crafts and games for at-home entertainment and consider becoming a member of your faves – so many perks all year round (including store discounts and the ability to visit in person whenever). Some favorites:

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CMOM at HOME

Museum educators from the Children’s Museum of Manhattan share daily videos, sing-a-longs, games and more at CMOM at Home. Other resources include hands-on art-making instructions, music, and storytelling activities that promote language skills grounded in language and literacy research at All the Way to K and Beyond! and exploration with super-pigeons in Superpowered Metropolis:…

#METKIDS

Explore the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s vast collection from home. Take a virtual time machine to explore great works of art from Prehistoric Egyptian tombs to Warhols Campbell Soup dresses. Each work has a short related video, interesting information and suggestions for imagining and creating works at home.

Also watch videos on who protects the…

ONLINE CLASSES

Whitney Open Studio From Home

Kids, teens, and families are invited to join Whitney Educators for free weekly online art classes. Experiment, create, and learn together with at-home art materials. Each week features a new theme and project connected to a work of art in the Whitney’s collection or current exhibitions. Book an in-person museum visit for more…

Brooklyn Museum Gallery/Studio Program

Inspired by Brooklyn Museum’s exhibitions and collections, create multi-layered, complex works of art, while discovering artists, working with different mediums and trying out new techniques, and more.

Each class includes a virtual visit to the galleries and art-making at home with live guidance from instructors.

Spring courses include Drawing, sculpture and animation inspired by current…

Spark Art, Yoga & Meditation

Join unique art class that incorporate mindfulness and movement. Working artists connect with children through mindful teaching, correct use of technology and ingenuity to foster self-expression, community and fun.

Discounts for signing up monthly or by semester.

In-person group and private classes also available.

Architectural Scavenger Hunt – South Street Seaport

Learn more about a fascinating part of New York City and hone your building detective skills on this virtual tour of the South Street Seaport area. Use Google Earth to explore this historic area and find key architectural details that provide clues to the city’s maritime past.

Learn more about architecture and design from the…

Little New-Yorkers @ Home

Join New-York Historical Society Storytime via Zoom every Tuesday and Friday for story time and crafts. Each class includes a special Little New-Yorkers hello song, silly stretches and exercises, a story book reading, and a craft to do at home. Designed for ages ages 3-6.

ArtsClub Remote Live Art Courses

Study portraiture, collage or abstraction in weekly zoom classes with up to 10 participants with a live instructor. All the materials provided and shipped to you to create works during the class. and homework between sessions.

Learn-and-Create…

Families and Folk Art: Alter Egos

Explore a variety of photographs that reveal the alter egos of their makers from American Folk Art Museum exhibition Photo Brut, then create photographic responses.

Art Adventures with Treasure Trunk Theatre and Artists & Crafts

Join Treasure Trunk Theatre and Artists & Crafts for a s for a monthly combo class on Zoom. Each class focuses on a new theme and famous artist that sparks a journey, songs, and art project for the day. Warm up bodies, voices, and imaginations to go on a magical, musical adventure to find Miss Jackie…

Guggenheim’s Sketch with Jeff

Guggenheim teaching artist Jeff Hopkins shares stories about the museum’s iconic Frank Lloyd Wright building while sketching stories followed by a prompt to create drawings of your own at home. Children are encouraged to share their sketches on Instagram and Twitter @Guggenheim using the hashtag #sketchwithJeff.

Rebel Girls Fest: Adventure Awaits

Play in your living room with fun activities led by inspiring Rebel Girls. Author, activist and Rebel Girl Marley Dias leads a hour-long virtual event, jam-packed with activities. Hear Melinda Gates delivers a special message to excite and inspire Rebel Girls to dream big. Celebrate the power of your name through an interactive art exercise…

Noguchi Museum Art for Kids & Families Online

Engage in conversations about art with Noguchi Museum educators, and then create artwork using materials found in the home. An opportunity to get together with families and friends from different households anywhere in the world for virtual play dates. Adults are encouraged to make art and join in the conversations, but their participation is optional.

Story Pirates Creator Camp

Kids can have fun stretching their imagination, trying out new skills, and developing tools to create stories, art, and more at a virtual camp with Zany local educational improv troupe Story Pirates. Choose from different days and themes – Escape From the Mad Scientist’s Laboratory, Spy Training, The Gold Tiara and Undercover Birthday – at both 3:30…

The Skyscraper Museum Family Program: “Let Liberty Rise”

Join author Chana Stiefel, for a reading of her recently released book, Let Liberty Rise: How Schoolchildren Helped Save the Statue of Liberty. Discover Lady Liberty’s history and how schoolchildren helped to raise the funds to assemble the statue! Virtual, Zoom. All ages welcome.

MoMA Make Art Together

Discover artwork from MoMA’s collection, then experiment with art making.

Watch the 20-minute premiere on MoMA’s Facebook page at 10 am or any time after that suits you. For kids ages four to six; adult participation is recommended.

Architecture at Home: Skyscrapers

Learn more about architecture and design from the comfort of your own home with our free, live, and online Architecture at Home workshops led by Center for Architecture educators. Each 45-minute session explores an architectural topic through virtual tours, interactive lessons, and discussions, and gets kids started on a design project they can complete on…

Virtual Planetarium Show for Kids

Hudson River Museum’s shares virtual planetarium shows just for kids via Facebook Live with weekly themes like constellations and the moon. Q & A after the show.

MoMA Art Talks

Take virtual trip to meet artists around the world, Learn about their process and technique then interact during a Q&A session.

From the 1 to the Q: Exploring NYC’s Subway System

Eplore forms of transportation and New York City’s subway system with the Skyscraper Museum. After a read-aloud of Christoph Niemann’s picture book Subway in English and Spanish, create subway signs and posters inspired by NYC’s transit art.

Guggenheim Sunday Family Tour

Family-oriented virtual tours explore works from the Guggenheim’s collection with conversation and creative hands-on activities utilizing materials you can find at home. Includes art looking and hands-on art exploration. Tours are organized around a single theme and highlight artworks on view from the permanent collection and special exhibitions (plus some discussion of the museum’s amazing…

Brooklyn Museum Virtual Family Adventures

Explore works of art in Brooklyn Museum collection through interactive games and activities, designed for kids ages 4–8 and their caregivers. Each session features a different activity inspired by kids’ homes and the things in them that make us feel cared for and secure—whether creating our own mini habitats or going on home scavenger hunts.…