We love to dabble in art in our homeschool. From in-person or online courses to museum visits to art appreciation -we love it all!
Art appreciation is a huge part of our homeschool routine.
Today, I am sharing some of our family’s absolute favorite resources for adding more art- and art appreciation- to your homeschool routine.
How to Add Art Appreciation to Your Homeschool
Super easy ways to add more art to your homeschool routine
Adding in more art can be easy, I promise! Here are some simple tips:
- Keep art supplies accessible – Make sure your children can reach those supplies and teach them to clean up after themselves. In our home, kids can reach everything except for glitter.
- When you read aloud, let the kids doodle!
- Participate with them! Monkey see, monkey do! If your children see you drawing, they will want to join in.
- Add in a mandatory doodle time. We love our Doodle Diaries!
- Coffee table books– When you go to the library, pick up an oversized art-themed coffee table book and leave it on your coffee table. Your kids won’t be able to resist!
- Pack a journal on your nature hikes.
- Surround yourself with great art books for children – Keep reading to find out our favorites.
Check out My Little Poppies Course Offerings:
- The Lazy Homeschooler’s Guide to Unit Studies
- How to Rock THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of Your Homeschool Day
- Gameschooling 101: How to Add More Play to Your Homeschool Day
Art picture books for children
If you know me well, you know how hard it is for me to pick favorite books. There are so many fabulous children’s books on the market today. And, when you are looking for art books, there are even more! Are you looking for a picture book? Books for an artist study? Curriculum? How-to-draw books?
Today, I am sharing our favorites in all of these categories.
Here are some of our favorite art picture books. We love anything by Peter Reynolds. His books are fantastic for the little perfectionist in your life. Art is messy and fluid and there are no mistakes! We also adore the new Patrick McDonald book, Art. But the truth is, there are just too many fantastic picture books to choose from.
Here are our favorites:
Children’s books about famous artists
There are three artist study series that our family loves:
Here are some other favorite resources:
Art books for your homeschool
Art is calming, not just for children but also for adults. I highly recommend picking up a few drawing books, playing some soothing music, and drawing together. Last year, we started daily Doodle Diaries and it has had such a tremendous impact on our homeschool routine. It never fails to help us all feel calm!
Here are some of our favorite how-to art books:
Art curriculum for your homeschool
If you are looking to incorporate more art into your homeschool curriculum, here are some fantastic choices. In particular, I think the Great Artists book is one that every homeschool family should have!
Do you love art?
Our homeschool art curriculum
My oldest two kiddos take an art course and we will continue our outdoor art. In addition, everyone will dabble in:
- Discovering Great Artists by Maryann F. Kohl and Kim Solga
- Doodle Diaries
- Alisha Gratehouse | Flourish
- Chalk Pastels | You Are an Artist
- Simply Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolios
- Art & Music Games
Our homeschool curriculum choices, by year
I get a lot of questions about our curriculum choices. You can read more here:
- Gifted Homeschool Curriculum: 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade
- Homeschool Curriculum: How to Ditch the Schedule and Embrace a Lifestyle
- 2017-2018 Homeschool Curriculum (1st, 2nd, and 4th grade)
- 2016-2017 Homeschool Curriculum (K, 1st grade, and 3rd grade)
- 2015-2016 Homeschooling Curriculum (Pre-K, K, and 2nd grade)
Games to inspire art appreciation and creativity
Games and activities are an excellent way to build upon and expand knowledge… all while having fun! And that’s why we play so many games in our homeschool!

There is something really special about outdoor art!
Art supplies for homeschool families
So simple! Just travel watercolors, a sketchpad, and a good book! We also love our portable easels. Each child has one and I let them decorate them with sharpies.
Here are some other favorites:
Online art courses for your homeschool
Does art overwhelm you? Do you hate it, but you want your children to feel otherwise? Outsource! Find a class in your community or online. Let someone else do the work for you!
Today, I’d like to share two of our family’s favorite online art resources. If you’ve followed our site for any length of time, you’ve heard me gush about both of these resources before… and with good reason!
1. Masterpiece Society Studio
I’m not at all surprised, but my kiddos are *loving* this membership site.
My oldest was sick as a dog on Valentine’s Day. Everyone was grouchy (self-included) and feeling a little crummy that our day didn’t go as planned.
Thankfully, we had access to amazing art lessons and they saved the day.
2. The You Are An Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership
We *love* Nana and her Chalk Pastel tutorials. Now, Nana has created an entire clubhouse for artists!
The Clubhouse annual membership includes:
- Instant access to oodles of video art tutorials
- A new art course added monthly
- A new art lesson each week
- … and Chalk Pastels at the Movies
You can read more or sign-up here.
If your family loves art, be sure to check out these related posts:
- The Best Art Books for Children
- The Best Art and Music Games for Your Homeschool
- Easy Outdoor Art
- The Best Nature Journaling Books for Creativity and Inspiration
- Calm Kids Down With Doodle Diaries
- Artists Around the World: A New Series from Around the World Stories
- The Best Gifts to Inspire Art, Creativity, Play, and Imagination
- Get Ready for Summer with this Seashore Chalk Pastel Video Art Course
- Homeschool Art Lessons Keep Little Artists Happy
- Fuel Creativity and Learning Through Art
- Celebrate Summer Mixed Media Workshop
- This Awesome Christmas Extravaganza Will Delight Little Artists
We love the Katie books by James Mayhew. These picture books are a playful introduction to art for young children.
Yay!! I am so glad you have found us 🙂
So that post might be from The Homeschool Sisters Podcast. Is this it? –> http://thehomeschoolsisters.com/2016/10/04/the-brave-writer-lifestyle-one-familys-approach/
It is!! What I could not accomplish Ina whole days worth of searching… thank you! I am so looking forward to a refresh for next years routine even though we’ve started making some tweaks immediately!😊This was our first year Homeschooling and it’s been mostly good but I am looking to make it extraordinary and look forward to following along with you, especially your play based math posts as I have a math dislike-er (I know that’s not technically a word) on my hands.😉 Where would be the best place to follow along? Instagram or right here?
Instagram is great for the day-to-day. Writing here is in fits and spurts. I try to write regularly, but I am on Instagram daily. Hope that makes sense 🙂