Art Making at Home

Art-making activities for all ages

Create art using your own materials or those provided in an MFA art kit! Each activity focuses on a specific art-making technique and connects with the Museum’s collection. Instructions are included to make your own. Recommended for children, teens, and the young at heart.

Also check out the MFA’s Studio Art Class offerings to learn more art-making techniques.

Share photos of your art with us by tagging #mfaBoston!

An opened Japanese folding fan reveals a detailed image of a landscape in ink
An opened Japanese folding fan reveals a detailed image of a landscape in ink

Fans

Learn how to paint a fan with your MFA art kit or materials from home.
gold embossed disk pectoral depicting two bird-like zoomorphs
gold embossed disk pectoral depicting two bird-like zoomorphs

Embossed Pendants

Learn how to emboss metal with your MFA art kit or materials from home.
Collage depicting young girl with a jump rope skipping down a golden path in the middle of a grassy terrain with a bright blue sky and puffy white clouds overhead
Collage depicting young girl with a jump rope skipping down a golden path in the middle of a grassy terrain with a bright blue sky and puffy white clouds overhead

Sketchbook Collage

Make a colorful collage using your MFA art kit or materials from home.
detail of paper quilled flowers
detail of paper quilled flowers

Paper Quilling

Learn how to quill paper with your MFA art kit or materials from home.
Painting of carp banners flying against a cityscape.
Painting of carp banners flying against a cityscape.

Japanese Carp Streamer

Make a fish wind sock using your MFA art kit or materials from home.
An ink and paper drawing of bamboo leaves with Chinese characters on the left-hand side.
An ink and paper drawing of bamboo leaves with Chinese characters on the left-hand side.

Chinese Brush Painting

Learn how to make a painting of bamboo using the four basic brush strokes.
yellow and blue painting inspired by graffiti by Jean-Michel Basquiat made with acrylic and oil paintstick on canvas
yellow and blue painting inspired by graffiti by Jean-Michel Basquiat made with acrylic and oil paintstick on canvas

Crowns

Make a crown using your MFA art kit or materials from home.
A detail of white woven cotton dyed with a dark blue pattern.
A detail of white woven cotton dyed with a dark blue pattern.

Shibori

Create your own textile using a Japanese tie-dye technique at home!
Abstract artwork: a square divided vertically into two halves—on the right-hand side, a gray-blue circle floats atop a slate-gray background; on the left-hand side, three vertical columns are ordered in progressively darker shades of gray from right to left
Abstract artwork: a square divided vertically into two halves—on the right-hand side, a gray-blue circle floats atop a slate-gray background; on the left-hand side, three vertical columns are ordered in progressively darker shades of gray from right to left

Handmade Paper

Learn how to make handmade paper from recycled materials!
A metallic three-dimensional pentagon.
A metallic three-dimensional pentagon.

Mosaics

Create your own colorful and reflective mosaic.
The Hanukkah Forever USA 2022 stamp of a colorful, silk menorah against a black background.
The Hanukkah Forever USA 2022 stamp of a colorful, silk menorah against a black background.

Paper Cutting

Learn the art of paper cutting and create a card in celebration of Hanukkah!
Artist Sunanda Sahay holding completed paper lantern with a peacock design
Artist Sunanda Sahay holding completed paper lantern with a peacock design

Paper Lanterns

Learn how to make a glowing paper lantern in celebration of Diwali.
At left: corn growing in Elizabeth James-Perry’s installation, Raven Reshapes Boston; at right: a tightly woven corn husk bag
At left: corn growing in Elizabeth James-Perry’s installation, Raven Reshapes Boston; at right: a tightly woven corn husk bag

Corn Husk Weaving

Corn husk is used by tribal artists for baskets, mats, braided rugs, and even braided shoes and sandals.
Kehinde Wiley, John, 1st Baron Byron, 2013. Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection, The Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collection and funds donated by Stephen Borkowski in honor of Jason Collins.
Kehinde Wiley, John, 1st Baron Byron, 2013. Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection, The Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collection and funds donated by Stephen Borkowski in honor of Jason Collins.

Portraits of Leadership

Learn how to draw a portrait using materials from home.
Katsushika Hokusai, "Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjûrokkei)," about 1830–31
Katsushika Hokusai, "Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjûrokkei)," about 1830–31

Printmaking

Learn how to make prints using your MFA art kit or materials from home.