Planning to study Rembrandt with your kids? We’ve got a collection of Rembrandt Unit Study resources to help you explore this master artist and his work.
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With all of the available books, videos, and project ideas, there are lots of kid-friendly resources to include in a Rembrandt unit study. Here are the ones we found to be the most helpful.
Rembrandt Unit Study Resources
Like most of our artist studies, our starting point for studying Rembrandt was Masterpiece Society. To dig in to Rembrandt’s background and work, we turned to the Rembrandt unit from Masterpiece Society Art Appreciation.
We worked through the unit for three months and used it to guide us through Rembrandt’s life, his extensive collection of self portraits, etchings, and other works, and the Baroque Period.
Also worth noting, these art appreciation units include interesting facts, notebooking pages, coloring sheets, links to additional resources, and more. All of these features makes this an open-and-go curriculum, which means I really didn’t do much in the way of gathering resources for our Rembrandt unit study.
To give my kids some hands-on time with Rembrandt, we turned to Mixing with the Masters Volume 1. We did one of these lessons each month while studying Rembrandt, which helped us balance learning about Rembrandt through an art appreciation lens with creating and thinking like Rembrandt (or at least trying to create and think like him).
If you’re interested in learning about Rembrandt with these Masterpiece Society resources, keep in mind that both the art appreciation unit and the Mixing with the Masters course can be purchased individually or bundled with the other artists.
Learning About Rembrandt
I didn’t have to handle our recent Rembrandt study this way, but I used to throw together my own unit study resources before I found Masterpiece Society. That’s where the following group of resources comes into the picture.
So, while I haven’t use these in our actual homeschool, most of these are resources I used to introduce Rembrandt to homeschool co-op classes I’ve taught in the past. Between Masterpiece Society and the ideas below, you’re more than covered to study Rembrandt with your kids.
Studying Rembrandt: What to Read
For books, we especially like Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists: Rembrandt and Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs.
For more reading suggestions on Rembrandt, see our Rembrandt book list.
As for learning about Rembrandt online, here are some of our favorite spots:
- Rembrandt Art for Kids by Ducksters – This website provides a nice overview of Rembrandt and his art.
- Rembrandt by Google Arts & Culture – This is a great way to explore what makes Rembrant and his work so remarkable while viewing many notable pieces.
- Rembrandt by Britannica Kids – This is another basic biography, but includes the option to “upgrade” the information if needed. A simple click takes you to view the same article for students and scholars, giving you easy access to additional details for rabbit trails that may pop up while you study Rembrandt.
What to Watch
Want to include some viewing selections in your Rembrandt unit study? Here are a few short options to consider:
- Art with Mati and Dada, Rembrandt – This animated introduction to Rembrandt is a fun way to study him with younger children.
- Free School’s Rembrandt for Children – This video is an ideal overview for younger kids or those with short attention spans.
- Rembrandt for Kids Self Portrait Exercise – Are you studying Rembrandt’s extensive portfolio of self portraits? If so, this exercise could make a nice hands-on activity.
- Rembrandt: The Power of His Self Portraits – This talk from the National Gallery of Art is another way to spotlight Rembrandt’s self portraits.
Looking for a Rembrandt documentary to include in your study? Season 2, episode 3 in Exhibition on Screen: History’s Greatest Painters is an in-depth look at Rembrandt.
More on Rembrandt
You may also want to consider some of the following ideas to go along with your Rembrandt study.
- Rembrandt van Rijn from Masterpiece Makers podcast. You can listen through the link online or find it in your favorite podcast app.
- Cross-hatching Project – Access this lesson through Crayola.com and familiarize your students with cross-hatching, one of Rembrandt’s famous sketching techniques.
- Make Block Prints – This activity from Education.com is a great way to explore his etchings with younger kids.
Looking for more unit study resources for the master artists? You’ll want to check out these unit study posts:
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