The Toilet at Emmaus
Half-term coming up.
A good moment for lounging around which is important, however unpleasant and pointless it seems to us mothers intent on achieving, achieving achieving.
What about just slobbing out? Most schools pack a lot of stuff into a day and the prospect of not having to get up and do anything must be wonderful to a child.
BUT….how about a good and simple idea for passive learning that will work by osmosis? Here’s how:
Think of your 5 most favourite paintings of all time, the ones you’d buy if money were no object.
Find them online, download them and print them out. (A5 size is good)
Stick them on the kitchen wall, right by the table. Or stick them with sellotape ON the table.
At least 3 times a day, your children will have to sit down and look at these. And when they don’t notice them anymore, it means they’ve sunk in.
Your job is to make each one into a memorable story. ‘D’you know who Vincent painted those sunflowers for? His mate, Gauguin. He was coming to stay in Vincent’s yellow house and it was like a home-made welcome present. Nice thought, eh?’
My faves are:
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
The Kiss by Gustav Kilmt
The Birth of Venus by Botticelli (boys will like this one)
The Fighting Temeraire by JMW Turner
The Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio
The Toilet of Venus by Velasquez
My 8-year old son got muddled and now calls Caravaggio’s great painting of Jesus ‘The Toilet at Emmaus’ – which sounds like a service station on an Italian motorway.
I’ll keep trying.
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