Da Vinci is the perfect artist for kids who claim to hate art, or to be terrible at it, or just can't get motivated by paintings and sculptures. Da Vinici of course, was also an inventor, architect, scientist and mathematician. There are probably thousands of activities that could be inspired by Da Vinci. I'll get to a few easy to manage ones in a minute.
As with everything, I think you should start by reading about Da Vinci with your kids.
For kids who do like art, the easiest thing to do is have them create their own portrait - their own Mona Lisa, so to speak. You can stress how Da Vinci filled up the entire canvas; this will encourage them to take longer finishing their portraits. This is also a great time to introduce colored pencils to little ones and oil pastels to big kids. New materials and knowing the fancy word for drawing a person's face might keep them occupied for quite a while.
It wouldn't work on Lovebug, though. He loves to draw, but he's not trying to make anything beautiful. His motivation is telling a story. . .or planning a Lego creation. When he first discovered what diagrams were, his whole attitude toward drawing changed. He's a lefty and drawing and writing were always a struggle for him, so he avoided them as much as possible. Which of course made them a bigger struggle. Then he discovered comics and diagrams. He's been drawing like a fiend ever since - and he's gone from struggling to print his last name to making lovely cursive letters in the years from kindergarten to second grade.*
So anyway. Da Vinci is known for making plans that included such non-Renaissance era machines as the submarine, hang glider and helicopter. Isn't that amazing? I still don't understand how helicopters work exactly. . . and I've been in one. I think getting your kids to diagram - or just draw, depending on their ages - a future machine of some sort would be a great way to teach about Da Vinci. And keep them busy for a while. And not require a lot of clean up. Graph paper, rulers, protractors and mechanical pencils can help with inspiration here, especially if these materials are new to kids.
Another Da Vinci activity that might appeal to kids more interested in science is to create a nature journal or notebook. You can start simple and cheap by just stapling paper together to make a booklet, or you can buy a special drawing notebook and let your kids decorate the cover with nature stickers - whatever you want to do. Then head out into the back yard, preferably with bags to collect leaves, flowers, twigs or whatever else catches your kids' eyes. Next encourage them to draw (or write up) what they see. Some kids might do a delicate sketch of a blooming flowers, others might write a detailed description of a spider eating a fly. Both would probably be in Leo's book. Just make sure the spider doesn't wind up in the collection bag.
*Some of this progress is probably also due to the fact that boys (often) develop their fine motor skills later than school districts them want them to. But that's a rant for another post.
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