A family enjoys their time at The Getty Museum.
(photo courtesy of The Getty Museum)

While Angelenos are staying “Safer at Home” during the COVID-19 pandemic, families may seek ways to pass the time with their children.

The Getty Museum’s education staff has compiled a list of creative ideas for kids of all ages, so they may explore their inner artist.

Families can find at the Getty’s blog the Iris, under the Art & Archives section, a drawing activity post titled “Drawing with Kids: Five Ideas to Stay Creative with a Pencil and a Piece of Paper” by Rebecca Edwards, an education specialist for the Getty Museum.

Edwards advised families to draw using inspiration from art and artists in the Getty collection. People can draw a hairdo, find a tiny creature, celebrate spring, draw a pet, or use short lines, anything really that will inspire someone to pick up a pen or pencil and draw.

Additionally, on the Iris readers learned about the Japanese art of the haiku. Porche Carter, author of the post “11 Haiku to Teach Kids about Art,” used haikus to teach readers about different elements of art such as line, color and shape, and encouraged people to write poetry.

The Getty has audio books of bestiaries, a popular type of medieval book describing the beasts of the world. People can listen to stories of unicorns, lions and griffins by going to getty.edu/art/mobile/center/beasts/list.php.

Also, the Getty created a page on its website based on the popular Percy Jackson book series by Rick Riordan. People can explore the Getty Villa through an immersive audio tour that explores Greek mythology.

Lastly, if someone is interested in learning about photography they can use the Getty’s award-winning app Unshuttered. People can access lessons and challenges aimed at improving photography skills at the Getty Unshuttered channel on YouTube.

More and updated artistic ideas for families can be found at Getty at Home and The Iris.

For information, visit getty.edu.