KIDS + FAMILIES

June 5 is a Family Day at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.  As part of Family Day at MFAH, the museum’s education department plans an array of art activities, performances, films, and refreshments from 1 pm to 4 pm designed to give families an interactive experience, with an emphasis on current exhibitions. Come discover the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston inside and out!   Enjoy family flicks, sketching, storytime tours, and refreshments.  The family flicks are shown in Brown Auditorium Theater on the lower level of the Law Building.   Art activities are held in both the Law and Beck buildings, and refreshments are provided.

Sunday, June 5, 2011:  Seehearsmelltouchtaste: The Five Senses in Art
FAMILIES WELCOME - ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES. Families will explore works of art from around the world that engage the five senses—sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste at the upcoming MFAH Family Day. All activities are free with admission. 

Flowers Abloom: Smell and see fragrant flower arrangements as you walk into the art-making studio spaces. Use the arrangements and an eighteenth-century Dutch painting as inspiration to create your own small flower bouquet.

Sketching the Details: Capture the delicate lace on a cap, the tall sails of a ship, or the decorative patterns on a jacket as you sketch the people and places depicted in the European galleries.

Using the Senses: A Family Gallery Experience: Make connections to the art that you see with a variety of hands-on materials during this 30-minute gallery experience, led by an MFAH educator. (1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.)

Listen to "Sense"-sational Stories: Relax on pillows as you listen to two picture books being read by an MFAH educator. (1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.)

Tell a Story: A Picture Postcard Gallery Activity: Write a postcard about your experience to a friend, telling them all of the things that you saw, heard, and smelled in one of the paintings.
Families with the young children will enjoy My Five Senses and Seven Blind Mice at Storytime.

Don´t miss Ratatouille at 2:30 p.m.!

Storybook Films: I Stink!, Noisy Nora, and Stone Soup: Designed for families with kids ages two and up, these three animated versions of the most celebrated children´s picture books involve the senses of smell, hearing, and taste. (1:30 p.m.)

Reel Kids Film: Ratatouille: In one of Paris´ finest restaurants, Remy, a determined young rat, dreams of becoming a renowned French chef. Torn between his family´s wishes and his true calling, Remy and his pal Linguini set in motion a hilarious chain of events that turns the City of Lights upside down. (2:30 p.m.)

Performance by Houston Playback Theatre: Actors, a musician, and a conductor improvise a performance based on feelings and stories shared by audience members. (2:00 p.m.)