My Big Art Show

My Big Art Show is a card game (art rummy) which can be played by 2 or more players. Shuffle the cards and deal out 7 to each player. The remaining cards go face down in a pile in the middle, with the top card turned up on a second pile. Look at your cards & decide which paintings to collect. Each card shows a color image of a painting, its title & date, the artist's name, the movement & theme, a number of stars for fame & value (up to 5 stars each) and a Find Out! question which can earn you an extra star. Each card is about 4 x 6 w/rounded corners. You need to collect one set with the same theme, one set with the same movement, and you have to have a set of 3 & a set of 4. The 6 themes include: animals, still life, stories, people, places and religion. The 12 art movements include: Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism and Pop Art. When it's your turn, take a card from either pile and discard 1 card to the face-up pile. The winner is the first player to get a set of 3 and a set of 4 in theme & movement. At the end of a round, the winner counts the stars as points. The player with the most stars wins. Five bonus cards can either add or take away stars from your score. You can keep it simple or get trickier by answering the Find Out! question every time you pick up a face-up card to earn another star. Instructions for 4 more games are also here, but there is much more to be found in this little book! There are summaries and examples of all 12 movements and the 6 themes shown on the cards. Then, you have information about the 47 artists on the cards! Some of the artists include W. Blake, Paul Cezanne, S. Dali, F. Goya, P. Klee, R. Lichtenstein, J. Miro, Raphael, H. Tanner, D. Velasquez and A. Warhol. This part of the book is color-coded by movement and can be used as a reference when playing the various card games. The last page is a glossary of 18 art terms such as fresco, impasto, etc. The cards are durable and the set comes in a box that will keep it all together nicely. Use to introduce art or reinforce your art appreciation study. The rummy game is easy to catch onto and a variety of ages can play together. Though I think the text in the book would be directed to upper elementary and middle grade students, older students can appreciate learning about the paintings and artists as they play the various games. Some paintings will be familiar, but not all! Perfect for an art unit study, too! Set includes 54 playing cards & 60 pp book. Box is 8.5 x 6 x 1.75 ~ Sara