One thing I fondly remember of my father, is he knew the answer to everything. I have never known a person with such a good general knowledge and knew if I was on his Trivial Pursuit team – we would definately win. Sadly however, I lack this knowledge!! I don’t know whether it is nature or nurture, but I am very keen to help my kids excel in their pub quizzes over the years! If you are with me and want to give your children an understanding of art history, The Little Grand Tour is just what you need to know about.
During the 18th and 19th centuries men and women ventured across Europe on a ‘Grand Tour’ to experience high culture and see first hand the wonder of Italian art and sculpture. Isabel and her team want to inspire a community of little grand tourists across London to its many secret and varied collections in well known and not so well known galleries and museums. Together with their LGT passport, children can enjoy their holiday and weekend tours. Lasting 2-3 hours depending on the tour, with a necessary picnic pit stop, they focus on a number of works of art which we hope will not only encourage a love of art but also contribute towards school learning.
My oldest son and his friend went a Myths and Legends Tour at the National Gallery yesterday.
I dropped them off at 10 with Isabel and Annabel and 4 other boys and let them get on with it.
When they arrived back at the same spot two hours later, they were telling me 3 paintings they saw – all under late rennaissance era.
From never having been inside an art gallery to all of a sudden knowing who Titian was – that’s not something I could have ever taught!
There is something about them being with a stranger that makes them behave (in my opinion!) so Isabel encourages parents to drop the kids with her rather than join the tour (as much as you will want to!)
As Isabel has two children (age 10 and 6) herself, she has an immediate way with children and knows how to engage them straight away.
They were given a Little Grand Tour silicon bracelet, a neck tag and a ‘passport’ to collect stickers each time they go on tour.
For the individual tours, they fill in a small form of what paintings they saw and have time to recall their favourite painting and redraw and colour it on the back of their worksheet.
Isabel knows how to bring art alive and I am looking forward to booking them on another one – I love the sound of ‘Picasso and Colour’ at Tate Modern!
Here is a list of what’s coming up
Wednesday 18th July: Cedric Morris & Floral Fun at The Garden Museum (10.30am-12.30pm)
Friday 27th July: Picasso & Colour at Tate Modern (10am-12pm)
Wednesday 15th August: Tate Britain (10am-12pm)
Wednesday 22nd August: Victoria & Albert Museum (10am-12pm)
Friday 27th August: Picasso & Colour at Tate Modern (10.30am-12.30pm)
Tuesday 28th August: Flower Fairies at The Garden Museum (10.30am-12.30pm)
Thursday 30th August: Flower Fairies at the Garden Museum (10.30am-12.30pm)
Contact Isabel to book hello@thelittlegrandtour.co.uk
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