Piet Mondrian for Kids (Crafts for Lazy Parents)

One of the first artists' styles I remember recognizing is Piet Mondrian's. Even though Mondrian started off as an impressionist in late 19th century Amsterdam, years in Paris and his own spiritual quest led him to develop Neoplasticism. I don't remember that word, nor do I remember another description of Mondrian's later paintings: geometric abstraction.

But the black lines, rectangles and primary colors?

Those I've remembered for more than 30 years.

How could primary colors and simple black lines NOT appeal to a kid who liked art but felt she had no artistic ability?


I remember sitting at my desk with a ruler, black marker and crayons and making my own versions of Mondrian's works, feeling like a "real" artist. That's a great way for older kids to connect to Mondrian. With young kids, I would cut out long strips of black construction paper as well as squares and rectangles in primary colors (I know, prep work, ugh, but I promise it won't take long). Then you could let little ones glue everything down. Another option would be to just cut out strips of black paper, have kids glue them down, then color in the squares and rectangles.

I usually suggest reading books about an artist beforehand. But once again, children's book publishers have failed me and there aren't any good kids' books about Mondrian. I should probably be writing one instead of blogging.

Oh well.

There are a few books that could be helpful, though (all links are affiliates):

This one is not so much about Mondrian as inspired by his style. The story is cute but more geared for middle to late elementary school.













This book, even though it's an alphabet book, is geared for older kids. It's not exclusively about Mondrian, but at least it includes one of his works.













Another book that discusses a number of different artists, this one could actually work for preschoolers. In simple, rhyming text it discusses how different famous artists see things. 











Did you discover a favorite artist or style when you were a kid?