Mini Artists: 20 projects inspired by the great artists

WINNER of the Made For Mums 2024 Gold Award - Non-fiction/activity book

Twenty art projects inspired by famous artworks for budding mini artists aged 3–6 years.

The benefits of art to young children are well known. Art stimulates curiosity, creativity and the imagination. It also cultivates wellbeing, but being creative with young children can feel surprisingly daunting - and this is where Mini Artists comes in.

The twenty projects in Mini Artists are designed to engage children with art through making. Mini artists will discover drip painting with Jackson Pollock, carve soap sculptures with Barbara Hepworth, and create their own obliteration room with Yayoi Kusama. They'll also travel through time and explore art from different periods, from cave painting to Medieval stained-glass, and Chinese ink painting to washable graffiti inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Each project requires minimal set-up so the maximum amount of time is spent creating together, and the step-by-step instructions show photographs of the projects in progress so they can be followed at a glance. The projects use simple materials, from clay to ink to paint. Being grounded in art history, Mini Artists features a range of interesting art techniques that are ideal for teaching new motor skills.

About the Author

Joséphine Seblon studied art history at the École du Louvre, and now works in publishing in London. She co-curated VIEW, a festival of art h story at the Institut Français in London. Through her Instagram @weareminiartists she shares the creative fun she has with her two young children, learning about and making art. Robert Sae-Heng is an illustrator and artist with a BA in Illustration from the University for the Creative Arts, London. He is the illustrator of Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park’s The One Thing You’d Save.