Vincent van Gogh is undeniably one of the world’s greatest artists, which means there are lots of great ways to study his incredible contributions to the art world. Today I’m excited to share one of those ways with you through a Vincent van Gogh Unit Study.
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Since I’ve covered Vincent van Gogh with both of my kiddos several times throughout the years, today I want to share some of the resources that helped us the most.
Vincent van Gogh Unit Study Ideas
Before we jump into the individual van Gogh resources, keep in mind that Masterpiece Society has a fantastic open and go van Gogh unit available in their Art Appreciation Bundle. (You can also get the van Gogh unit individually if you prefer.)
This 50+ page art appreciation unit provides a biography of van Gogh, an overview of post-impressionism, picture study for three of his masterpieces, notebooking pages, and more.
In a nutshell, you can use it as the foundation of your van Gogh unit study or for the study itself with nothing else added. Either way, it’s a good one to have on hand.
Want to add a hands-on component to your unit study, but don’t have time to pull together different project ideas? We recommend the van Gogh lessons from Mixing with the Masters. :)
Related: Bring Artist Study to Life with this Mixing with the Masters Mixed Media Course
More Vincent van Gogh
Unit Study Resources
Because we love studying van Gogh in our homeschool, we’ve used lots of great unit study resources learning about him over the years. One of those is the Van Gogh for Children site from the Van Gogh Museum. You’ll find video resources, free printable coloring pages, and games waiting for you there!
If you prefer to explore van Gogh through books, check out these 10 Children’s Books about Vincent van Gogh (Pin it for later).
What to watch on van Gogh
Here are a few good videos to watch for your van Gogh unit study:
- Van Gogh documentaries
- Van Gogh: Brush with Genius – Note that van Gogh’s death is covered in the 30-35 mark. Due to the sensitive subject matter, you may wish to omit this part or only use this documentary for older students.
- Creative Galaxy, Season 1, Episode 5 – Follow this link to add it to your watchlist. It’s a good introduction to van Gogh for younger kids.
Hands on with van Gogh
Want to include some hands-on activities in your study? Here are some ideas to consider:
- This van Gogh profile from Making Fun of Art has a good biographical overview and includes six fun activities to use in your study.
- Vincent van Gogh coloring book
- Paint by Number – The Starry Night
- Crayola’s Bedroom of Your Dreams activity is based on van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles.
- These Starry Night Ornaments are a cool enough to keep on display anytime time of year. The project itself is designed for classroom use, but it could easily be adapted to a homeschool setting.
Have you studied Vincent van Gogh in your homeschool? What are your favorite van Gogh resources?