I had read somewhere that the National Gallery offer a storytelling workshop for children under 5 every sunday morning and I thought the boys would enjoy it so we decided to go. I should mention at this point that there are various workshops and sessions here for children of all ages.
I feel almost embarrassed to admit that I don't really remember whether I have been to the National Gallery before; but in a way it turned out to be a blessing because I was so bowled over when I went there with the children.
The first good thing about it is the location. It sits right on the brink of Trafalgar Square which historically, politically and culturally has great significance for this country. The square takes its name from the Spanish cape where Admiral Horatio Nelson heroically fought and won the Battle of Trafalgar.
At its centre, a column stands 52 meters tall with Nelson's bold figure standing 18 feet at the top overlooking the site created in his honour. He was just 47 when he died! Bless him.
The column is surrounded by ornate architecture and design vividly illustrated in the surrounding buildings and the famous fountains which just invite you to jump in without a care in the world! However, I did manage to restrain myself and the children (just about) from taking leave of our senses partly because we didn't have a change of clothing but predominantly because managing two three year olds in a public fountain bath was a vision that I in no way was going to make a reality!
Luckily they were distracted by the lions at the base of the column which represented the four battles fought by our hero, but to them they were just an opportunity to climb, mount and worry me!
Swiftly, we scurried across the square to the National Gallery negotiating the crowds of people, which surprised me because it was 10 o clock in the morning; but we finally reached our destination.
We were actually running a bit late following the distractions outside so we had to hot foot it to the meeting point for the Magic Carpet storytelling session. This meant racing through several parts of the gallery but those first glimpses of what we were about to see were really breath taking. But we had no time to stop!
There were about 8 children waiting with their parents in the foyer at the back of the building. Promptly, a very nice lady came out, greeted us, made the necessary introductions and announced that under one of the paintings in the gallery lay a magic carpet and that we had to wander through the gallery (collectively) to find it. This was such a great way to engage all of us because the children were immediately excited and ran ahead to start the search and the parents had the opportunity to take in the art. It was genius!
As we made our way through the gallery, unsuspecting visitors didn't seem to mind the noisy children eagerly screaming "magic carpet, where are you?" at the top of their voices. They seemed amused and charmed by it which added to the joy of the experience.
I want to make it clear right now that I am not an Art expert but we (as a family) really appreciate it nonetheless so when the magic carpet was finally found under a stunning painting neatly entitled 'Psyche showing her Sisters her gift from Cupid'! by Jean - Honore Fragonard, we were curious as to how this image would be translated to 3-5 year olds.
The carpet was rolled out by the children and once they were all sitting on it they essentially took flight into the painting and the story was narrated in the most fun and engaging way. It was absolutely brilliant the way the children were encouraged to ask questions and share their thoughts of what they could see in the painting and the simple way the story was broken down for the children ( I don't want to give too much away!) was well executed.
The twins (my boys) were gripped from start to finish and really weren't ready for the experience to end. But when it was over, we took the chance to admire some of the most beautiful paintings we had ever seen.
Oh, by the way did I mention that this experience was FREE!
By the time we were finished it was lunch time and fortunately we were in the heart of London, so there was loads of choice. After we fed our faces at Wagamamas (we love this place!) which conveniently was just around the corner, we decided to walk over to Covent Garden and watch some of the street entertainers.
Needless to say we were exhausted by the end, partly due to the fact that we inadvertently got caught up in a protest march delaying our journey home by 2 hours!
It was great fun though.
Enjoy
Mama xx
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment