The Google Arts & Culture website offers FREE virtual museum tours, symphonies, operas, and much more that children can enjoy from home. Learn all about the Tower Bridge in England, the Milan Cathedral in Italy, the Taj Mahal in India, and the Musėe d’Orsay in France, to name only a few.

Creating Command Cards with Google Arts & Culture

Montessori teachers can use this wonderful online resource to create virtual going-out activities for upper elementary students by making Command Cards that coordinate with the Google Arts & Culture tours. We have provided a few examples of Command Cards to get you started. Remember, as much as possible, allow your students to choose how they will execute the study. And always remember to first vet websites to ensure that they are suitable for viewing by young children.

One purpose of Command Cards is to expand a student’s understanding of a particular concept. Command Cards are used to foster independence by leading the student to think and conduct research independently. These cards are well-suited to the learning period of lower and upper elementary students.

Musee d’Orsay Command Card

Image courtesy of Google Arts & Culture

Watch the “From station to the renovated Musee d’Orsay” virtual tour on the Google Arts & Culture website (link provided below) and choose one of the following projects that interests you:

(a) Investigate three other train stations around the world that have been renovated or repurposed. Write a short report using the six W’s (who, what, where, when, why, how) as applicable and include photographs.

(b) Create a before-and-after illustration of the interior of Gare d’Orsay/Musee d’Orsay.

(c) Write a story about the art that is displayed at Musee d’Orsay.

Link to Musee d'Orsay Virtual Tour

Kinetic Art Command Card

Image courtesy of Google Arts & Culture

Visit the virtual exhibit of Kinetic Art on the Google Arts & Culture website (link provided below). Discover this intriguing art movement that involves real and apparent movement.

(a) Choose three of your favorite kinetic art installations on the website and write a short description about each one. Your description should include the title of the artwork, the artist, the year it was created, where it is located, the materials that were used to create it, and why you like it.

(b) Source common household materials to create your own kinetic art project. Remember that the challenge will be to make art that has some kind of movement.

(c) Categorize the different kinetic art installations on the website. You may classify the installation by the material used to create it, or by the geometric shape of the installation, or by size. Display the results of your classification in a chart.

Link to Kinetic Art Movement Virtual Tour

Visit NAMC's website to learn more about cross-curricular activities and see samples and tables of content from the full set of our Montessori Upper Elementary Curriculum Manuals.