Arts and Music for Kids
Art, music, dance and drama let us express ideas and feelings in ways words cannot. These lessons introduce colours, painting, sculpture, instruments, dance and filmmaking, with simple explanations, famous artists and creative ideas you can try at home.
All 111 Arts and Music topics
Primary Colours
Red, yellow and blue are the primary colours in painting.
Rhythm and Beat
Rhythm is a pattern of long and short sounds.
Instrument Families
Orchestras have strings (violin), woodwinds (flute), brass (trumpet) and percussion (drums).
Famous Painters
Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, Vincent van Gogh painted Starry Night and Pablo Picasso co-created Cubism.
Perspective Drawing
Perspective makes drawings look 3D.
Sculpture
Sculptures are 3D artworks made by carving, modelling or building.
Musical Notes
Notes show how high or low a sound is.
Drama and Theatre
In theatre, actors tell stories using voice, movement and costumes.
Warm and Cool Colours
Reds, oranges and yellows are warm colours that feel energetic.
The Colour Wheel
The colour wheel arranges colours in a circle.
Texture and Pattern
Texture is how something feels or looks like it feels: rough, smooth, bumpy.
Collage
A collage is artwork made by sticking different materials like paper, fabric and photos onto a surface.
Cartooning
Cartoonists draw funny or exaggerated characters, often in panels telling a story.
Mosaics
A mosaic is a picture made of many small coloured pieces called tesserae, like tiles or glass.
Pottery
Pottery is made by shaping wet clay and baking it hard in a very hot oven called a kiln.
Street Art
Street art is painted or drawn in public places like walls.
Singing and Your Voice
Your voice comes from vocal cords vibrating in your throat.
Famous Composers
Composers write music.
Dance Around the World
Every culture has dances: bharatanatyam in India, flamenco in Spain, hula in Hawaii and ballet in Europe.
Ballet
Ballet is a graceful dance style that began in Italy and France.
Indian Classical Instruments
India has many classical instruments: the sitar (stringed), tabla (drums), bansuri (flute) and sarod.
Filmmaking
Making a film involves a script, storyboard, actors, camera, lighting, sound and editing.
Animation
Animation makes drawings or models appear to move by showing many slightly different pictures quickly.
Impressionism
Impressionism is a style of painting that began in France in the 1870s.
Cubism
Cubism is an art style in which objects are broken into shapes and seen from several angles at the same time.
Abstract Art
Abstract art does not show things exactly as they look.
Surrealism
Surrealism is an art movement that shows dreamlike and strange images.
Watercolour Painting
Watercolour is a painting method using pigments mixed with water.
Printmaking
Printmaking creates many copies of an image by pressing ink from a carved or etched surface onto paper.
Still Life Drawing
A still life is an artwork of everyday objects, such as fruit, flowers or bottles.
Landscape Painting
A landscape painting shows scenery such as mountains, rivers, fields or the sea.
Portrait Painting
A portrait is a picture of a person, usually focusing on the face and expression.
Photography
Photography captures images by letting light hit a light-sensitive surface, either film or a digital sensor.
Stop-Motion Animation
Stop-motion animation makes objects or models appear to move by taking a photo of each small change in position.
Paper Sculpture
Paper sculpture uses folding, rolling, cutting and layering paper to create three-dimensional art.
Weaving
Weaving is the art of interlacing threads over and under each other on a loom to make cloth.
Embroidery
Embroidery is decorating fabric with threaded needle stitches to make patterns or pictures.
Stained Glass
Stained glass is coloured glass pieces joined together to make pictures or patterns, often in windows of churches and cathedrals.
Jazz
Jazz is a style of music that began in the United States and uses improvisation, swing rhythms and blue notes.
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre where the story is told mostly through singing, with an orchestra playing the music.
The Orchestra
An orchestra is a large group of musicians playing many instruments together.
Piano
The piano is a keyboard instrument where pressing a key causes a hammer to strike a string.
Violin
The violin is a small string instrument played with a bow or by plucking.
Drumming
Drumming is making rhythm by hitting drums or other percussion instruments.
Hip Hop Dance
Hip hop dance is a style with roots in street culture.
Folk Dance
Folk dances are traditional dances passed down through families and communities.
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing dance sequences.
Puppetry
Puppetry is the art of making puppets move and speak to tell a story.
Comics
Comics tell stories using a sequence of drawn panels, speech bubbles and captions.
Graphic Design
Graphic design combines images, words and layout to communicate a message clearly.
Digital Art
Digital art is created on computers or tablets using software and drawing pads.
Music Theory
Music theory explains how music works, including notes, scales, rhythm and chords.
Mixing Paint
Mixing paints lets you make new colours.
Tie-Dye
Tie-dye is a way of decorating fabric by tying or folding it and then dipping it in dye.
Clay Models
Clay can be shaped by hand using pinching, coiling and joining.
Cave Paintings
Cave paintings are some of the oldest art in the world.
Shadow Puppets
Shadow puppets are flat shapes held between a light and a screen.
Mandalas
A mandala is a circular design with patterns that repeat around a central point.
Finger Painting
Finger painting uses fingers and paint to make bold, textured pictures.
Sketching Faces
When sketching a face, start with an oval for the head and lightly place guidelines for the eyes, nose and mouth.
Drawing Animals
When drawing animals, look carefully at their shapes and proportions.
Musical Instruments of the World
Instruments are made in many shapes and sizes.
Silhouettes
A silhouette is a dark shape that shows the outline of a person, animal or object against a light background.
Chalk Art
Chalk art uses coloured chalk on pavements or boards to create temporary pictures.
Papier-mâché
Papier-mâché is a craft where strips of paper are soaked in glue or paste and layered over a shape.
Wire Sculpture
A wire sculpture is a three-dimensional artwork made by bending and twisting wire into shapes.
Puppet Making
Puppets can be made from socks, paper, cardboard or wood.
Monochrome Art
Monochrome art uses only one colour, often in different shades, tints and tones.
Pointillism
Pointillism is a painting technique where tiny dots of pure colour are placed close together.
Kinetic Art
Kinetic art includes sculptures that move, either by wind, motors or people.
Batik
Batik is a traditional way of decorating fabric using wax to block out parts of the design before dyeing.
Ink Drawing
Ink drawing uses pens and inks to create lines, patterns and shading.
Papercutting
Papercutting is an art where paper is cut into detailed designs using scissors or a craft knife.
Charcoal Drawing
Charcoal drawing uses sticks of charcoal to make bold, dark marks.
Conducting an Orchestra
A conductor leads an orchestra by using arm movements to set the tempo and show when each section should play.
Lino Printing
Lino printing is a type of printmaking where a design is carved into a block of linoleum.
Fresco Painting
Fresco is a painting technique where pigments are applied to wet plaster on a wall.
Mural Painting
A mural is a large painting on a wall, often outdoors.
Tapestry
A tapestry is a textile artwork woven on a loom with coloured threads to create pictures or patterns.
Pastel Art
Pastel art uses soft chalk-like sticks of pigment to make bright, velvety drawings.
Colour Blocking
Colour blocking is a design technique that uses large areas of solid colours placed side by side.
Sketchbook Journals
A sketchbook journal combines drawing, writing and collage in one book.
Stencil Art
Stencil art uses a cut-out shape that is placed on a surface and painted or sprayed over.
Textile Printing
Textile printing puts patterns onto fabric using blocks, stamps, screens or digital printers.
Digital Painting
Digital painting uses a computer, tablet and stylus to create artwork.
Abstract Shapes
Abstract art uses shapes, colours and lines that do not try to show something real.
Scratch Art
Scratch art is made by covering paper with coloured wax or ink and then scratching a design into the surface.
Bookbinding
Bookbinding is the craft of putting pages together to make a book.
Music Composition
Music composition is the art of creating new music by arranging notes, rhythms and harmonies.
Ballet Positions
Ballet positions are the basic foot and arm placements used in ballet.
Fashion Sketching
Fashion sketching is drawing designs for clothing and accessories.
Typography Art
Typography art uses letters and words as the main design element.
Animated GIFs
An animated GIF is a short looping image made from several frames shown one after another.
Paper Quilling
Paper quilling is an art where thin strips of paper are rolled, shaped and glued to make designs.
Storyboarding
Storyboarding uses a series of drawings with short notes to plan a film, animation or comic.
Art Critique
An art critique is a thoughtful discussion of an artwork.
Ceramic Glazing
Glazing is a coating applied to clay pottery before it is fired in a kiln.
Cardboard Sculpture
Cardboard sculpture uses folded, cut and glued cardboard to build three-dimensional artworks.
Pop Art
Pop art is a style that uses images from everyday life, such as advertisements and comic strips, in bright, bold colours.
Photo Composition
Photo composition is the way a picture's elements are arranged.
Acrylic Painting
Acrylic paint dries quickly and can be used on many surfaces, including canvas, paper and wood.
Oil Painting
Oil painting uses pigments mixed with oil, which dries slowly and allows artists to blend colours for a long time.
Gouache
Gouache is a water-based paint that is opaque, which means it covers colours underneath.
Lettering Art
Lettering art is the creative drawing of letters and words.
Colour Wash
A colour wash is a thin layer of watery paint spread over a surface to create a soft, transparent background.
Foam Sculpting
Foam sculpting uses blocks of soft foam that can be carved, shaped and painted into artworks or props.
Sketching in Pencil
Sketching in pencil is a simple way to practise drawing shapes, lines and forms.
Shading Techniques
Shading techniques show light and shadow to make drawings look three-dimensional.
Stage Lighting
Stage lighting uses spotlights, coloured filters and moving lights to create mood and focus on performers.
Photo Editing Art
Photo editing art turns photographs into new artworks by adding filters, layers, textures and painted details.
Tile Art
Tile art arranges small pieces of tile into images or patterns on walls, floors and benches.
Frequently asked questions about Arts and Music
How can children get better at art?
Draw or paint often, look closely at real objects, experiment with new materials and visit galleries or museums when you can. Practice and curiosity matter more than natural talent.
Do I need expensive supplies to make art?
No. Pencils, paper, recycled materials, paint and glue are enough to start. Many great artworks are made from simple materials.
Is music important for learning?
Yes. Music helps with memory, maths patterns, language and teamwork, and it is enjoyable in its own right.