Are you looking for a unique, easy LEGO art lesson that blends creativity, history, and hands-on building?Also, look at my page From Simple to Spectacular: Easy LEGO Ideas for Everyone.
This LEGO art project, inspired by Edvard Munch’s The Scream, is perfect for students in elementary through middle school.
Kids will learn about expressionist art, explore famous paintings, and then build their own colorful version using LEGO bricks on a baseplate.
It’s a low-prep activity with significant visual impact, and it helps kids understand art in a memorable, tactile way using a tool that they love at just about any age-LEGO.
Your homeschooler will not only learn about a famous painting but will also explore how artists use color, emotion, and movement through a simple building project.
I have more ideas to turn this from a one-activity wonder to a whole unit of art, whether you stick to expressionism or expand into all art styles.
MORE EASY LEGO IDEAS
- How To Use LEGO Maths to Teach Essential Foundational Skills
- Create Your Own Masterpiece: The Scream – Easy LEGO Art Tutorial
- 5 Exciting LEGO Science Activities for Kids Who Love Hands-On Learning
- Craft Lego Mythology Sets – How To Craft The Powerful Titan Atlas
- How to Make a LEGO Solar System That Educates & Entertains
- How to Create a LEGO Duck Pond: Step-by-Step Guide
- How To Make A DIY LEGO Turkish Design Craft
- Easy and Creative LEGO Eye Anatomy Activity for Curious Kids
- A Splash Of Fun: The Ultimate LEGO Minecraft Coral Reef
- Crust to Core: How to Build LEGO Earth Layers
- Unleashing Creativity: An Easy Guide to a LEGO Stonehenge Model
- Crafting Connections: How to Design a LEGO Family Tree
- Ancient Civilizations: The History & Significance Of The Simple LEGO Ziggurat
LEGO IDEAS FOR KIDS
First, look at these other ideas to inspire your kids.
Lego Ideas for Kids
Use one of these LEGO ideas in your homeschool. Besides, LEGO are great hands-on crafts to teach with.
Never before have Shakespeare’s plays been depicted in LEGO bricks, and now Brick Shakespeare: The Tragedies—Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar and Brick Shakespeare: The Comedies—A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew are available in one extraordinary hardcover.With over two thousand color photographs depicting the most well-known scenes in some of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, this bind-up is the perfect gift for your LEGO- and Shakespeare-loving friends and family!Fall in love with LEGO Juliet on her balcony as Romeo proclaims his love. See the full effect of Lady Macbeth’s manic “Out, out, damn spot!” in a whole new way. Laugh along with LEGO Puck as he mischievously hassles the lovers in the woods. Cast a storm with brick Prospero as he strands his usurping brother on his deserted island.
Enter the magical world of fairy tales retold through LEGO bricks! Filled with creative and whimsical settings built from this universally celebrated toy, this book presents an all-new retelling of the original Grimm’s fairy tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel, and more! With one thousand color photographs, this inspired adaptation uses intricately designed brick sets to present some of the most cherished and widely told stories of all time.Watch the clock strike twelve as Cinderella leaves her glass slipper behind at the ball, and see just how long brick Rapunzel’s hair can grow as she waits in her tower. Watch the seven dwarfs plot against the evil Queen and her brick looking glass, and try to find your way home with Hansel’s path of brick breadcrumbs
- Dr Jane Goodall + Chimps
But first let’s learn a little bit more about the artist and The Scream in particular.
WHO WAS EDVARD MUNCH
Edvard Munch (pronounced “Moonk”) was a Norwegian artist, born in 1863, known for his emotionally charged, dramatic paintings.
His most famous work, The Scream, depicts a figure standing on a bridge amid swirling colors. Munch wanted his viewers to feel the emotions of the painting-fear, surprise, and the chaos of the world around us.
5 EDVARD MUNCH FUN FACTS
- The Scream is actually one of four versions Munch created.
- The sky in the painting may have been inspired by a volcanic sunset in the late 1800s.
- The swirly background makes the painting look like it’s moving or vibrating.
- The figure’s hands on their face create one of the most recognized poses in art history.
- Munch wasn’t compelled to sell, and he kept most of his own work until after his death.
LEARNING EXTENSIONS FOR THE SCREAM
Try Painting the Scene- After making the LEGO version, let kids paint The Scream using watercolors or oil pastels to compare textures.
Study Expressionism-Introduce other expressionist artists, such as Kandinsky or Franz Marc, and discuss how they used color and movement.
Creative Writing Prompt- Ask: “If the figure in the painting could talk, what would they be screaming about?” Have your child write a short story or comic to tell the story behind the painting.
Math Tie-In- For older students, talk about scale and ratios. How many bricks tall is the figure compared to the bridge? Can they enlarge or reduce their design?
Then, look at more ideas.
LEGO ART IDEAS
Here are some fabulous tutorials of LEGO creations, as well as a few from the company itself.
- This Minecraft Art Idea: Pixelated Masterpieces on Canvas! Reminds me of Starry Night with a modern Minecraft twist.
- Make these LEGO Self-Portraits as a form of self-expression.
- Explore modern art with this Make A Mondrian Puzzle With LEGO
- Put together the LEGO Art Mona Lisa
- Another option is the LEGO Art Hokusai The Great Wave Framed Japanese Wall Art.
Make a LEGO Exhibit
Create a mini “art museum” with multiple LEGO masterpieces, and kids can be curators and write small labels.
- Girl With a Pearl Earring
- Starry Night
- Mona Lisa
- The Great Wave
THE SCREAM- EASY LEGO ART TUTORIAL
You will need:
- Square LEGO baseplate
- Any white round LEGO
- picture of The Scream for reference
- Any mix of LEGO bricks in these colors:
Blues
Oranges
Yellows
Browns
Beiges
Black
I had a blue baseplate, which we used as the background sky. Use any color you have and then just cover it accordingly.
We decided to build the figure in the foreground first and then create the scene around him.
Use black or brown bricks to create the dark clothing with raised arms.
Fill in the hands and create the head with flesh colored bricks.
Add white round studs for the eyes and an open mouth.
For the bridge, add long brown, yellow, or tan bricks in horizontal lines. Kids can stack slightly different shades to mimic the texture of the real painting.
The sky in The Scream is one of the painting’s most dramatic elements. Let kids choose bright oranges, reds, and yellows to fill the top half of the baseplate.
Encourage them to create wavy, swirling lines instead of straight rows by staggering them for an expressionist look.
Start by scattering yellow bricks, allowing a little blue to peek through here and there.
Then fill in with orange.
Add extra movement using lines of bricks around the figure. The more variety in color, the more the LEGO version will “feel” like The Scream. Let kids experiment; every version will look different, and that’s part of the fun. We did this by adding a few random flat bricks into the open blue area.
Best of all, they’ll create a keepsake masterpiece you can display with pride.
Leave a Reply