Maker Morning: Sound Playground
For kids (and adults!) of all ages
Make some noise for a special Sound Scene Maker Morning! Explore artworks you can hear and experiment with sound at our hands-on activity stations throughout the Museum and Plaza. Build your own instrument, play in the tot “sound space,” and create a collaborative sound sculpture.
In case of inclement weather, check in the Museum Lobby for our indoor locations.
Stroller parking is available in the Lobby and Lower Level.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Hands-on maker stations explore sound, including playing with rhythm of words and creating your own instrument.
10 am–1 pm | Throughout the Museum and Plaza
Baby and Tot Sound Space
10 am–1 pm | Throughout the Museum and Plaza
Sound Scene Programming
All weekend | Throughout the Museum and Plaza
Do this at home! What can you create with sound? Explore sound experiments by artist Laurie Anderson, and then create your own sounds with different materials. Can you make cereal move without touching it? Can you make your voice travel? Can you feel a vibration? Create.
Join us again next month! Maker Morning is the Hirshhorn’s free series held on a select Saturday of each month that invites kids of all ages to experience contemporary art through interactive hands-on making activities. Each month, we’ll introduce you to new activities and ideas, focused on this year’s theme: Be Transformed. Drop in and explore the Museum through engaging interactives, kids tours, and more. Activities take place throughout the Museum and Plaza.
Art Cart: Tondo-rrific!
Join us for another Sam Gilliam inspired Art Cart before the exhibit Sam Gilliam: Full Circle closes. Young artists will look closely at the works on view and create their own circular work of art inspired by Gilliam’s tondos (circular shaped canvases).
Find the Art Cart on the Second Level and pick up your circular materials.
Do this at home! Transform a flat coffee filter into a sculptural work of art. All you need is a coffee filter, some markers, and a spray bottle or cup of water. Instructions here.
ABOUT THE ART CART
Want to make art inspired by your favorite Hirshhorn works on view? The Art Cart offers young artists a hands-on maker experience during their visit to the Hirshhorn. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an artmaking activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home!
The Art Cart is free; no registration required. Drop in any Thursday between 10am-12pm.
Stroller Parking is available in the Lobby and the Lower Level.
Art Cart: Fall In Love With Making
Fall in love with autumn through an exploration of nature! Young artists will look closely at the nutmeg tree tables by artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, read stories about nature, and create their own tree-shaped wearable piece of art.
Find the Art Cart on the Plaza and pick up your nature materials. In the case of inclement weather, find the Art Cart on the Second Level.
Do this at home! Keep getting inspired by nature and make your own sustainable colorful prints inspired by Andy Warhol. Instructions here.
ABOUT THE ART CART
Want to make art inspired by your favorite Hirshhorn works on view? The Art Cart offers young artists a hands-on maker experience during their visit to the Hirshhorn. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an artmaking activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home!
The Art Cart is free; no registration required. Drop in any Thursday between 10am-12pm.
Stroller Parking is available in the Lobby and the Lower Level.
Art Cart: Halloween at the Hirshhorn
Get inspired by Kusama’s creativity for Halloween and create your own wearable work of art. Together we will learn about Kusama’s life and process (including her love of pumpkins), explore monochromatic materials, and get into the holiday spirit. Bonus points if you arrive with your own obliterated accessory from the Obliterate Yourself art project linked below!
Find the Art Cart on the Lower Level and pick up your Halloween-inspired materials.
Do this at home! Have you ever wished you could blend in like a chameleon? Design your own wearable work of art inspired by Kusama’s Flowers—Overcoat and disappear into your surroundings! Instructions here.
ABOUT THE ART CART
Want to make art inspired by your favorite Hirshhorn works on view? The Art Cart offers young artists a hands-on maker experience during their visit to the Hirshhorn. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an artmaking activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home!
The Art Cart is free; no registration required. Drop in any Thursday between 10am-12pm.
Stroller Parking is available in the Lobby and the Lower Level.
Art Cart: Build with Balance
How do you like to build? Do you stack, balance, or otherwise combine materials? Join us at this week’s Art Cart to explore how different sculptures in Put It This Way were built and experiment with how we can create sculptures!
Find the Art Cart on the Third Level to pick up your balancing materials.
Do this at home! Balance your own mobile inspired by artist Alexander Calder! Instructions here.
ABOUT THE ART CART
Want to make art inspired by your favorite Hirshhorn works on view? The Art Cart offers young artists a hands-on maker experience during their visit to the Hirshhorn. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an artmaking activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home!
The Art Cart is free; no registration required. Drop in any Thursday between 10am-12pm.
Stroller Parking is available in the Lobby and the Lower Level.
Art Cart: Build and Layer
Let’s give thanks for the power of art! Join us at the Art Cart to look closely at Mark Bradford’s: Pickett’s Charge and explore how stories are remembered. Then, artists can create their own layered works and help make a world we are thankful for together!
Find the Art Cart on the Third Level to pick up your layering materials.
Do this at home! Reveal the layers within a story that matters to you with Mark Bradford. Instructions here.
ABOUT THE ART CART
Want to make art inspired by your favorite Hirshhorn works on view? The Art Cart offers young artists a hands-on maker experience during their visit to the Hirshhorn. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an artmaking activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home!
The Art Cart is free; no registration required. Drop in any Thursday between 10am-12pm.
Stroller Parking is available in the Lobby and the Lower Level.
Maker Morning: Radiant Rainbows
For kids (and adults!) of all ages
Embrace all the colors of summer! Join us and take on the challenge of our color quest, make your own drape sculpture, and mix color and light!
Wheelchair accessible entrance to the Sculpture Garden is on the National Mall side of the Garden.
Stroller parking is available.
In case of inclement weather, check in the Museum Lobby for our indoor locations.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Hands-on maker stations throughout the Museum and Sculpture Garden including color and light mixing, a color scavenger hunt, and a collaborative wall mural
10 am–1 pm | Museum and Sculpture Garden
DO THIS AT HOME!
Colorful Kaleidoscope
Have you ever seen a rainbow? Maybe you’ve noticed one refracted through a glass prism or while playing in a sprinkler on a sunny day. This project will give you the power to make your own rainbow! Create.
Colorful Coffee Filter
Transform a flat coffee filter into a sculptural work of art inspired by artist Sam Gilliam. All you need is a coffee filter, some markers, and a spray bottle or cup of water. Create.
Maker Morning is the Hirshhorn’s free series held on select Saturdays each month that invites kids of all ages to experience contemporary art through interactive hands-on making activities. Each month, we’ll introduce you to new activities and ideas, focused on this year’s theme of Breaking Boundaries. Drop in and explore the Museum through engaging interactives, kids tours, and more. Activities take place throughout the Museum and Sculpture Garden
Please note for next month: Hirshhorn Kids programs take a break in August, but you don’t have to! Pick up one of our kid-friendly exhibition self-guides at the Front Desk or explore our digital Kids Guide to the Outside in the Sculpture Garden.
Art Cart: Gift a Noise
Do you like to make noise? Turn a noise into a gift for a family or friend. Find the Art Cart on the Third Level and pick up your materials. Investigate and play with sound. Then, create a work with a “hidden noise” inspired by artists Laurie Anderson and Marcel Duchamp.
Until we can gather again for Storytime, we are rolling out the Art Cart! Starting December 1, stop by with your young artists to pick up your own free packet of self-guided materials. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an art making activity to do at the Museum, and suggested projects to extend the fun at home! The Art Cart is free, and no registration is required.
Stroller Parking is available on the Lower Level.
Help us stay safe and healthy! Review Smithsonian health and safety guidelines before your visit.
Art Cart: Invent an Instrument
Join us for a special Art Cart with the Washington Ballet! Make some noise with your self-made instrument! Investigate and play with sound. Then, make your own instrument inspired by artist Laurie Anderson. As a special collaboration with the Washington Ballet’s Dance for All, this Art Cart will include a dance workshop!
Find us on the Second Level.
Do this at home! Play a game inspired by Marcel Duchamp! Make your own noisemaker, with a secret noise inside. Create.
A makeshift noisemaker created from a toilet paper roll lies on a white surface. Much of the roll has been covered in a clear plastic, while a golden foil covers the lower half of the roll. Two pieces of white and red striped string hold the pieces together on either end of the roll. The roll is decorated in the middle with drawn on flowers and a forever Love stamp.
Until we can gather for Storytime again, the Art Cart offers young artists themed sets of materials. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an art making activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home! The Art Cart is free, no registration required. Every Thursday, 10 am–12 pm
Stroller Parking is available on the Lower Level.
Help us stay safe and healthy! Review Smithsonian health and safety guidelines before your visit.
Art Cart: Sculpture Studio
Celebrate spring at the Art Cart. Get inspired by artist Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture Figure for Landscape. Young artists will have an opportunity to look closely at one of Hepworth’s sculptures and experiment with negative space!
Find the Art Cart in the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden! In case of inclement weather, check in the Museum Lobby for our indoor locations.
Do this at home! Make your own abstract sculpture inspired by Barbara Hepworth! Create.
ABOUT THE ART CART
Want to make art inspired by your favorite Hirshhorn works on view? The Art Cart offers young artists a hands-on maker experience during their visit to the Hirshhorn. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an artmaking activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home!
The Art Cart is free; no registration required. Drop in any Thursday between 10am-12pm.
Wheelchair accessible entrance to the Sculpture Garden is on the National Mall side of the Garden.
Stroller Parking is available.
