Collage Machine • Mobile • PixelFace • 3-D Twirler • Cubits • Diamonds • Dutch House • Photo Op • PaintBox

Wallovers • RiverRun • SwatchBox • Flow • Jungle • Brushster • Still Life • Faces and Places • Sea-Saws

NGAkids Home

 

NGAkids CDs provide offline access to many of our most popular interactive programs. No internet connection is required. The freestanding applications do not require Adobe Shockwave and they are compatible with Mac OS 10.7 (Lion). LEARN MORE.

 

  

SEA-SAWS

SEA-SAWS is fun for kids of all ages. Select photographs of natural and man-made objects, then arrange the pieces to create a seascape or an abstract composition. The BUILD tool helps you construct animated characters and set them in motion. (Shockwave, 7.5 MB)

 

FACES & PLACES helps children of all ages create portraits and landscape paintings in the style of American naive artists. By combining visual elements borrowed from more than 100 works in the National Gallery's permanent collection, this two-part interactive activity offers an overview of American folk art of the 18th and 19th centuries. The original paintings illustrated in these online presentations were a gift to the nation from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. (Shockwave, 6 MB).

PHOTO OP (Shockwave, 7 MB) is a two-part interactive activity that introduces you to digital photography and digital photo editing. Use the virtual camera to create snapshots and explore lighting, focus, shutter speed, and compositional effects. After you've taken some photos, switch to the Photo Op editor and transform your pictures into something completely different.

This Art Zone interactive is suitable for all ages. Young children will find it easy to take simple snapshots and transform or recolor their virtual photos. More advanced users can create complex artistic compositions by layering, applying filters, and experimenting with various special effects, lighting, and blends. If you need help, scroll down for some hints about how to use the program.  If your Internet connection is slow, allow the program to load fully, then come back to play.

SNAPPER: With Photo Op you can make portraits, landscapes, architectural or still life photos, and abstract designs. Select a subject, then zoom in and out to frame your picture. Experiment with aperture, focus, and shutter speed settings to capture different photographic effects. Click on the red button at the top of the camera to SNAP your picture.

EDITOR: Review all your photos by clicking on the red PIX icon, or click on a picture you've taken to enter the EDITOR mode. (HINT: You must take at least one picture before you begin to edit.) Apply filters and blends, or use the dodge and burn brushes to lighten and darken selected areas. You can change colors, create collage layers, explore mirrored effects, and more.  

Use the EDITOR to create art based on the photos you have snapped. Explore mirror effects, color tints, blending tools, collage-like layering options, and other special effects. Young artists may enjoy tracing and coloring some of the photos they have taken to practice drawing. Be sure to SAVE your work often so you can backtrack if you change your mind. You can save 18 images before the program begins to overwrite them with new pictures. Saved images will remain available as long as the program remains open, but they are not stored on your computer. To keep a digital copy of your art, take a screenshot or print to PDF. 

 Photo Op is a large program and it may take some time to download.  A fast Internet connection is recommended, or you may find it easier to pre-load the module before playing.  Once the program is downloaded, Photo Op will remain active until the browser window is closed, refreshed, or resized.

 

 

The NGAkids Still Life (Shockwave, 8 MB)  helps you create interactive art that mirrors the paintings of the old masters. Mix everyday objects and painted elements while experimenting with composition, scale, and perspective. This Art Zone activity is suitable for all ages. Young children can compose engaging interactive still lifes online while learning simple spatial and math concepts. More advanced artists can create complex compositions and then switch to the painting mode to add and manipulate textured 'brushstrokes" that give the art a more abstract quality.


 

A still life slideshow (Flash, 32K) features photographs of real paintings and art objects in the National Gallery of Art that were the inspiration for this interactive. When viewed in their original context, these works may give you some ideas about how to compose a still life of your own. Here's a printable checklist (PDF, 220k) of images in the slideshow, so you can learn more about the art and artists on our main Web site.  Click the picture above to launch the slideshow, or design your own still life now.

Teachers and older kids may enjoy reading a chapter on STILL LIFE PAINTING from our new book on 17th-century Dutch art. (PDF, 561k)  

 

 

 

BRUSHster is a painting machine for all ages. This interactive has more than forty brushes and many customizable size, transparency, and stroke options. A rainbow palette, along with a toolbox of special effects that blur, ripple, smudge, blend, and fragment your designs make BRUSHster a full-feature painting program. You can use it to draw pictures, but BRUSHster is programmed to create ABSTRACT art. Are you more interested in exploring color, gesture, shape, or line? BRUSHster can do it all. Check out our Flash slideshow of BRUSHster paintings for ideas, then create an abstract painting of your own.

 

If you're interested in learning more about abstract art, tell your parents and teachers about Art Since 1950, a 95-page book with classroom activities and essays about modern paintings and sculpture in the National Gallery of Art. (PDF, 2.4 MB)

 

In Holland during the 17th and 18th centuries, the "poppenhuis"  or dollhouse was an adult diversion, but our online DUTCH HOUSE is fun for kids of all ages. Paintings by well-known artists such as Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch, Jan Steen, and Johannes Vermeer spring to life as you mix and match colorful characters, create decorative objects, and explore the kitchen, living quarters, artist's studio, and courtyard of this make-believe Dutch house.

DUTCH HOUSE requires Shockwave Player. A high-speed Internet connection or preloading prior to play is recommended. If your Internet connection is slow, just preload the game while you're doing something else, then come back to the Web page after the program has transferred to your computer. The dollhouse will stay open until you close your browser window or shut down the computer.

Click the DUTCH HOUSE to begin.