Exploring Shapes with Anni Albers

Now that we are sheltering-in-place and my son Silas (almost three) is not at daycare, I’ve been coming up with ways to stimulate him and occupy his time. So, I got him his first pair of scissors, which he totally loves. He’s trying to cut everything in the house now, including our dog’s tail. I thought this Anni Albers “Orchestra III” screen print would make a great example to show Silas and use it as inspiration for making his own artwork. (Silas had some help with the cutting.)

~ Paige Taylor, learning & engagement assistant

Questions for Engagement

What shapes do you see? How are the shapes the same? How are the shapes different? Which shape is the biggest? Which shape is the smallest? How can you tell?

What colors did Anni Albers choose for her shapes? These colors are called primary colors. Why do you think they are called primary? Primary colors are pure colors; they cannot be made by mixing other colors together.

How are the shapes and colors arranged?

Extension for older kids:

Talk about the different names of the various shapes and what properties a shape needs to have to qualify as one (or more than one) of these specific shapes.

See the shape definitions at MathIsFun.com

Materials

• Construction paper or colored paper (black, red, blue, and yellow – or whatever colors you have!)
• Scissors
• Glue stick, glue, or tape

Activity

1. Draw a variety of quadrilaterals (shapes with four sides, like rectangles, squares, rhombuses, parallelograms, trapezoids, isosceles trapezoids) on the primary-color (red, blue, and yellow) papers.
2. Cut shapes out, being careful to stay along the lines.
3. Paste shapes on black paper, thinking about how you want to arrange them (randomly, in a pattern, etc.)