iArt - i.d.e.a. Museum

Welcome to iArt

Tap into your imagination and have fun at home with these hands-on, creative activities from the i.d.e.a. Museum – perfect for days you aren’t able to visit.

Yaffi and Daniel Lvova at Far Out: Our Solar System

Early Learning

Skill Builder activities aimed at helping little ones prepare for school.

Learn

Imagination

Enjoy writing and pretend play prompts.

Imagine

Design

Promote building and tinkering with these activities.

Design

Experience

Reading, acting and other action activities.

Find Week of the Young Child and Mesa Family Take Out Night activities here!

Experience

Art

Ideas for helping bring out your child’s creative side! Our “Drawing Inspiration” series can be found here, too.

Create

iArt Archives

Egg-citing Spring Splat Art

Save your eggshells for an egg-citing spring process-art activity the entire family can enjoy! You’ll fill shells with paint and toss them at a large piece of paper for some color splats that are just as fun to make as they are to admire. It’s messy outdoor fun for...

Artful bird drawings

It’s Draw a Bird Day on social media, and we’re taking a moment to connect to nature with a cooperative lesson that offers you an opportunity to unwind, make art and work together. Getting started First, some book recommendations: How to Draw a Picture of a Bird...

DIY Foam Finger Paint

If you’ve visited the museum, you‘ve likely had the opportunity to make art with our cool foam finger paint. Since not everyone has access to that in their own craft room, we decided to show you how to make your own with supplies you likely have around the house or...

Mesa Recycles Craft: Bird in a Nest

We love our partnership with Mesa Recycles, which brings in special crafts to the i.d.e.a. Museum Recyclery every month. The Mesa Recycles outreach team is sad that they couldn’t do this craft activity in person at the i.d.e.a Museum. However, we’ll have plenty of...

Marble paper craft ideas

For those of you who ventured to make your own marbled paper, this activity is a quick tutorial on some things you can make with it! This at-home idea comes from Gallery Educator Rebecca Cameron, one of several talented team members at the i.d.e.a. Museum. Gallery...

At home: Wildflowers

We’re taking you back to our exhibition - Sonoran Safari. This beautiful activity is a great way to talk about how beautiful nature is and learn a little about the Sonoran Desert‘s wildflowers. We get to enjoy a variety of color from wildflowers throughout the year....

4 tips for writing poetry

It’s International Children’s Book Day. So why are we suggesting poetry? This special day is tied to Hans Christian Andersen (click link to read short biography), who was not only known as a children’s book and fairytale writer, but also a poet. So we asked local...

Making marble paper

If you’re interested in creating some totally unique drawing paper that’s simple and a little messy, this is the craft for you. Follow along with the video below to learn how to create your own colorful marbled paper using a few supplies you probably already have...

There’s Fireworks in Your Milk

Change up your morning routine on April Fools' Day with a little colorful fun. Note: This is also fun to do around the 4th of July. This experiment with milk will be a blast for your kids! And they can get a mini science lesson about surface tension and liquids,...

Desert Writing Activity

Have you ever seen a cactus that looks like a person? Do you ever wonder if the plants come alive at night? What would the cacti do at night? While the weather is great for searching for saguaros near you (keeping social distancing in mind), you can also get on your...

Artful Play! Try building a House of Cards

We're sharing a popular activity from a past exhibition, Artful Play! Games & Toys. In this exhibition, many types of games and toys were featured among the artworks. Among them: Building a house of cards! Have you ever built a house of cards? Cards aren’t just...

Bee Cubes by Judy Wood

Add a little positivity at home by creating a “bee cube” with your kids - even your teens will enjoy this. This activity comes from artist/poet Judy Wood, who loves crafting with all kinds of beautiful paper, writing poetry and sharing a positive mindset. This...