March 2021 GCBC: United Kingdom: Art Activities, Culture, Movies

These United Kingdom art activities are wonderful for getting to know UK leaders and creators, and learning from their gifts and style. Keep reading until the end for some virtual field trips to some amazing museums in the UK!

Featured UK Artist: Sir Anish Kapoor

Sir Anish Kapoor CBE, RA (born 12 March 1954) is a British Indian sculptor specializing in installation art and conceptual art. Born in Mumbai, Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.

Kapoor was born to a Jewish mother and a Punjabi Hindu father. He especially enjoys working with stainless steel, and created the “Cloud Gate” statue (The Bean) in Millennium Park in Chicago, amongst other statues. He often creates abstract sculptures, without specific shapes, so that people can decide for themselves what they mean. He was knighted in 2013.

United Kingdom Art Activities: UK Craft & Culture Activities for Kids: Story Quilt

Featured UK Art Activity: Anish Kapoor Foil Sculpture

Anish Kapoor loves considering infinity and endlessness in his sculptures. He also enjoys using light reflection and simple shapes to evoke meaning in a way anyone can understand. Finally, he likes considering the idea of origin, or where something came from, especially through creating holes in his works.

You can also create a reflective sculpture! Consider something important to you and how you can represent it with a simple shape. Then, take some reflective aluminum foil and try to bend and shape it into that shape!

Welsh Love Spoons Craft

Adapted from here

In Welsh tradition going back to the 1600s, young men would give intricately carved wooden spoons to young women in whom they were interested. If the girl accepted the spoon, she was also accepting a signal of romantic interest. The carver used a single piece of wood and showed off his skill through his carving. They were also given as gifts between family and friends. You can “carve” your own love spoon out of clay!

Materials:

Air dry clay
Paint + brushes
Printout of Welsh love spoons symbols and meanings

Shape the spoon part (the rounded part at the bottom) of your love spoon out of clay.
Pick 2-3 symbols to incorporate into your love spoon. (You can check out this site for some inspiration on how they might look.) Mold them out of clay and then attach them together on top of the spoon by pressing the clay together.
Paint the entire thing brown and wait for it to dry.
Gift it to a friend!

welsh love spoon wales for kids craft