Stay informed with our email newsletters.
Click here to give feedback on our pages for educators.

Self-guiding in the Galleries
Pre-During-Post Visit Resources
Alexander Calder: An Artist At Play

Grades PreK - K

Scroll down the page to find items on the menu below or click on a link to jump to an item.

During your visit
click here for printable version

Things You Don't Want to Miss
Discussion Questions
Activities
Go to Alexander Calder Gallery Page

Before and After Your Visit
click here for printable version

Important Terms and Concepts
Activities
Print and Web Resources

	Calder's Original Toys in the Display Cases Alexander Calder's original prototypes of push and pull toys were made in the 1920's. The Gould Manufacturing Company in Oshkosh, WI produced them for the mass market. Though trained as an engineer, Calder began to focus on making art soon after graduating from college. In the meantime, he had to make a living. Even as a boy, Calder had always enjoyed tinkering with bits of wire to make imaginative toys with moving parts, so he created a series of playful wooden pull toys for children, eventually finding a company willing to manufacture them.
	Pull Toys That Visitors Can Try! The Berkshire Museum created replicas of the original toys, so that visitors could wheel them around the gallery.
	The Fish The fish is one of the many whimsical toy replicas that you can actually play with in the gallery. Eccentric wheels, with the axle placed off-center, create this toy's bobbing, wobbling motion.
	The Frog The frog appears to be swimming, thanks to a series of levers linked to the front and back legs of the toy's wheels, creating a crank mechanisms. This toy also features rotating wheels in the form of castors.

Here are some questions for teachers, chaperones and students to think about while visiting the exhibit.

• What animals do you see? How are the animals moving? What kind of colors, shapes and patterns do you see?
• Calder’s pull toys use different kinds of wheels. What different kinds of wheels do you notice? What different kinds of movement do they create?
• After trying the replicas of Calder’s toys, are there any changes or improvements you would make to the toys?
• If these toys were manufactured today, how might they be different? Why?
• Alexander Calder was an artist and an engineer. Engineers often make something, test it out, and then change it to make it work even better. Do you see places on Alexander’s original toys where he changed things?
• If you were going to make a moving toy, what would you make? How would it move?

Charades
In the Alexander Calder: An Artist At Play gallery, there are copies of Calder's push and pull toys that visitors can wheel around. Take some time to try out the toys. Then get the group back together and form a circle. Ask volunteers, one at a time, to describe one toy to the group without saying the name of the animal that appears in the toy or pointing to the toy.

Students can use words to describe the colors, shapes, movement and materials used in the toy. They can also act out the motion that the toy makes. Then ask the rest of the group to guess which toy it is. This activity allows for free exploration time with the toys, but also encourages close observation, use of descriptive language, and kinesthetic learning.

Compare and Contrast
In the Alexander Calder Gallery, there are copies of Calder's toys that visitors can wheel around. Pick one and find the original version of your toy in one of the display cases in the gallery. The toys in the cases were made by Calder himself. The Gould manufacturing company then made many copies of these originals and sold them. What differences do you notice between the originals and the replicas (copies) that are on display for you to use? Why do you think they are different?

Engineering Scavenger Hunt
A fun way to consider how these toys were made, thinking about tools and materials. Click here for complete directions/worksheet.

You may want to familiarize your students with the following terms before your visit to the museum.

• Alexander Calder
  a famous artist well known for pioneering moving sculptures (mobiles) and who created the push and pull toys on display in this gallery.
• Wheels
  cylinders that can roll and rotate, like the tires on a car.
• Mobile
  a sculpture that has moving parts. The parts might be moved by moving air or by a motor (using electric power).
• Sculpture
  art that is not flat like a painting or drawing.

Make a Mobile
To create the arms of your mobile, use two pipe cleaners. Lay one on top of the other to create an X. At the center of the X, wrap one pipe cleaner around the other so that they are attached.

Take a third pipe cleaner, form a loop, and twist the loose ends around the center of the X.

Bend the tips of each arm upwards. Now you are ready to add shapes to your mobile. Draw, color, and cut out any shapes you would like to hang on your mobile. Use wire Christmas tree hangers for an easy, no-tie way to add your shapes. You can add additional "arms" by attaching more pipe cleaners.

Toys in Motion
Ask students to bring in a toy from home. Ask each student to share their toy with the class. If it has moving parts, talk about how the toy moves and how the parts work together. Introduce or review Alexander Calder and his push and pull toys. Now it is their turn to be the toy designers! Ask them to imagine a moving toy of their own and to draw a picture of it. They should give their toy a name and be able to explain what all of the parts are and how the toy moves.

Calder Toy Picture Book
Students create a picture book about the Alexander Calder toy exhibit to share with people in their families who may not have been able to come on the field trip. Book contents might include a drawing of the student's favorite toy, information about how it moves (i.e., You pull it and it wobbles around), what machines helped to make their toy move (levers, tilted wheels, regular wheels, etc.) and what students liked best about the exhibit.

Use the Berkshire Athenaeum’s on-line catalogue to search for these print resources in Central/Western Massachusetts.

Print and Web Materials for Students

Roytson, Angela. The Machines in Action Series including Wheels and Cranks, Pulleys & Gears, Levers, Screws, and Springs. Heineman Library, 2001. Lots of pictures and clear text. Good for young readers.

Venezia, Mike. Alexander Calder (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists). New York: Children's Press, 1998. An excellent and thorough introduction to Calder-the man, the artist, and his work.

Print and Web Materials for Educators

Hodge, Deborah. Simple Machines (Starting with Science). Kids Can Pree, 1998. Excellent ideas for fun activities and experiments that you can do with simple, common household materials.

TOYS, Activities for Grades K - 9. New York: Terrific Science Press, 1995. Physics activities utilizing toys like Lego construction toys, roller skates, comeback toys, and yo-yos. Designed by college professors, elementary and middle school classroom teachers and science specialists.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal grant- making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities supports the Berkshire Museum.

< Back to Pre-During-Post Visit Resource Menu