Birdcage Press specializes in unique books and games for children. Brilliant museum-quality images are presented on every product, allowing children to learn about some of the greatest creatures and works of art in the world. The award winning products at Birdcage Press are unforgettable.
The Schoolhouse Review crew was given their choice of products from Birdcage Press to use for this review. Games containing photos of great works of art, animals and Ancient Egypt were available for choice. Each game allowing a different form of play and lessons unique to itself.
I personally chose Art Up Close: The Museum of Modern Art for our review product. I thought my oldest daughter would greatly enjoy this particular game. Since she wants to be an artist, I thought this game would be a great way to introduce her to different artists and artworks that we may miss normally. Needless to say, she really loved viewing each of the cards during this review period.
Art Up Close is thus named because the game presents the cards as the “normal” art piece complete with the Artist’s name, the pieces name, and the year created. The accompanying card match shows an up close piece of the artwork which allows the player to see more detail in the artwork. It also makes the player think about the details to figure out which piece of art the up close piece belongs to.
Art Up Close can be played as a game in 5 different ways. You can play memory with them, where the players match the cards to create pairs in order to finish the game. You can play Old Master which is Old Maid without the maid. You simply chose a card to be the Master and go from there. You can play Painting Pairs which is a lot like Go Fish. You can also play Treasure Hunt, where the players are dealt works of art and must try to find the matching pieces.
My youngest child’s favorite game was Memory, while my oldest two enjoyed playing Painting Pairs and Old Master. My artist took the cards and thoroughly went over them detail by detail. She laid them out and worked on creating her own works of art by examining the details on the cards she had chosen. Each time she chose a new piece, we researched the piece online to learn more about it. She enjoyed having the artwork to get her started in learning more about the artist, artworks and year.
This card game was able to be used in so many enjoyable ways by all of our family. My children are ages 5-12 and each one benefited from it in some way. Even I enjoyed learning more about the art pieces portrayed throughout the game.
Art Up Close: Museum of Modern Art is available through Birdcage Press for $10.95. This art deck includes 48 cards featuring artists like Picasso, Monet, Klee and more. The recommended age is 5+.
