Talking about Portraits: Interactive Portrait Activities

This week the 4th graders are learning about portraiture through the study of Moche portrait vessels and 3rd grade students will be discussing the famous sculptor Bernini next week, so I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about some of the interactive sites I have found the last couple years that explore portraiture and are useful sites and activities for elementary students:

Mr. Picassohead

Great site for creating your very own virtual Picasso abstract portrait

NGA Kids:  Faces and Places

FACES AND PLACES is a two-part interactive activity inspired by the National Gallery’s extensive collection of American naive artists, a gift to the nation from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. Elements from more than 100 paintings have been included in these presentations. Using these two programs, young artists can create portraits, landscapes, or genre scenes of daily life.

My Faces

From what I can gather, this is a caricature interactive that uses portions of Sheffield Museum (UK) portraits to create your own.  Easy to navigate and fun to play with!

Portrait Detectives

Walker Museum in Liverpool walks kids through an interactive about several elements from portraits in their collection.

These are some of the one's that I have found work well with kids in the lab to give them a start in learning a little bit more about the elements of portraiture.  Have any ones you know of?  Hit me with the link in the comments.