WFMW - Artist/Composer Lunch

I've recently started a new lunchtime routine to our homeschool day, I call it our Artist/Composer Lunch. I took the original idea from Sherry's post(and comments), and tweaked it to suit our needs. It's blending nicely with our days. In a nutshell, here's what I do:

I chose a different artist or composer each week.

I try to correlate the artist/composer to Fox's curriculum. For instance, 2 weeks ago he read the book Stink Alley. At the end of the book you learn that one of the characters was Rembrandt as a child, so all week we studied Rembrandt. It was very rewarding to watch Fox's face light up when he made the connection that THIS Rembrandt was THAT Rembrandt and he knew a lot about him.

For the first couple of days, during lunch, we view the artist's work or listen to the composer's music. For this, YouTube is great, they have tons of classical music plus slideshows of many artist's paintings. While we listen/view and eat, I usually go over the basics such as place and date of birth, type of artist, period etc. I also try to throw in fun facts that will help my son remember who is whom. Example: Rembrandt; he outlived 2 wives and all three of his children, he lived a lavish life or Chopin; he is buried in Paris but his heart is sealed in a church pillar in Warsaw.

The last few days of the week we'll highlight the work that interested Fox the most...for good or bad. If he remembers a specific concerto because he hated it, or if he loves a painting for it's bright colors, then we learn the story behind it (if there is one). We'll also do fun activities like word finds and crosswords. If you can't find one for a particular artist you can make your own.