A few months ago, I received a flyer announcing a special Leonardo da Vinci exhibit coming to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). In attempt to turn my children into complete weirdos and train them early to love art history as much as I do, I decided we'd have a little home school unit on da Vinci, the culmination being a trip to see the exhibit.
What I didn't anticipate was how much Jack and Kathryn would enjoy their study! I checked out all the books the library had to offer for kids, which - combined with my own collection - amounted to plenty of information for us to learn in three weeks. We watched parts of a BBC documentary on YouTube, learned a little Italian, and talked a lot about the importance of the Renaissance.
My favorite comment during our studies came from Jack while I was explaining da Vinci's sketch of the Vitruvian Man. "Leonardo was creating the perfectly proportioned man." Jack's response was so characteristic: "Well, I don't think
that man looks perfect - he has four legs and four arms, but only one head and one bottom!"
Finally, the big day arrived... The exhibit began with a time line of da Vinci's life, with his major paintings and works of his contemporaries. It was fun to see them squeal when they recognized their favorites, and Kathryn's contempt that Michelangelo's
David was included in an exhibit about da Vinci.
There were lots of hands-on reproductions of da Vinci's inventions for the kids to try out, which especially thrilled Jack. Kathryn was more interested in the art, which Jack had enough of after locating his favorite painting and testing the theory that wherever you are in the room,
Mona Lisa is looking at you.
We ended the day with a picnic and play in the Science Playground - the Waterworks, to be specific, which is all Max really cared about. We always do this last, because he ends up soaking wet in no time.
Over dinner that night, Nick asked the kids for a report of their trip to OMSI. Jack concluded his adventures by stating, "I think Leonardo is the best painter ever." To which Kathryn piped up (characteristically opposing her brother), " I don't - I think Botticelli is." The debate still continues, but we all agreed that we had a wonderful time!
Who lets their kids go out like this? Well, I do - on a frighteningly regular basis, actually. On this recent spring day, we grabbed the opportunity to plant a few cherry trees before the ominous clouds let loose on us. The kids had a wonderful time - especially Max. The instructions on the trees said to fill the hole halfway full of dirt, fill the rest of it with water, let it soak in, then fill in the rest of the dirt. The problem was, our already saturated ground took a long time to soak up the water... during which time, Max took a mud bath. He was having so much fun that I couldn't stop him - besides, it was too late when I discovered what he was up to.
