Van Gogh at Primary Schools

Who was Van Gogh?

A short film about Vincent van Gogh, for use as an introduction to other lessons about the artist and his work.

10 to 13

Art and design, History

60 min

UV - Van Gogh's friend (2)

Masterminds & Masterpieces – Using your own drawings and paintings, you’ll discover what a conservator-restorer sees when studying a painting with UV light. (Age 10 - 12)

10 to 14

Design and technology, Art and design, Science, History

30 min

UV - Van Gogh's friend (1)

Masterminds & Masterpieces – In this lesson, you’ll see how a conservator-restorer uses UV light to study Vincent van Gogh’s paintings closely. Then you’ll construct your own UV research light. (Age 10 - 12)

10 to 14

Art and design, Science, Design and technology, History

30 min

The rediscovered church

By studying the painting of a church in Nuenen, the class will find out how Vincent van Gogh created the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface. They will learn about proportions and do arithmetic and measurement exercises based on the painting.

10 to 12

Art and design, Mathematics

75 min

UV - Van Gogh's enemy

Masterminds & Masterpieces – Using two of your own drawings, you’ll carry out an experiment to show the influence of UV light on works of art. Note: You’ll need at least a couple of weeks to complete this experiment. The lesson involves two parts – and a lot of patience. (Age 10 - 12)

10 to 13

Design and technology, Art and design, Science

15 min

True or false? The Bedroom

The class will first look at the painting 'The Bedroom' and then decide whether some statements about it are true or false.

Vincent becomes an artist

A short film about the start of Vincent van Gogh's career as an artist, for use as an introduction to other lessons about the artist and his work.

10 to 12

Art and design, History

5 min

Who was Vincent van Gogh?

A short film about Vincent van Gogh, for use as an introduction to other lessons about the artist and his work.

Art and design, History

0 min

StoryZoo Van Gogh Museum E1: 'The artist: Vincent van Gogh'

StoryZoo characters Bax, Toby and Pepper visit the Van Gogh Museum. They learn all about the famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh.

The yellow, green, pink, blue house?

The pupils paint their own versions of Vincent's yellow house – but they can use any colours they like.

Bedroom poem

Group activity, in a circle: making up eleven-word poems about a painting by Vincent.

StoryZoo Van Gogh Museum E2: 'Autumn'

StoryZoo characters Bax, Toby and Pepper visit the Van Gogh Museum. In this episode, they discover that Vincent van Gogh loved painting outdoors, even in autumn.

StoryZoo Van Gogh Museum E3: 'Colours'

StoryZoo characters Bax, Toby and Pepper visit the Van Gogh Museum. In this episode, they take a good look at Vincent van Gogh’s use of colours.

StoryZoo Van Gogh Museum E4: 'Painting indoors and outdoors'

StoryZoo characters Bax, Toby and Pepper visit the Van Gogh Museum. In this episode, they investigate paintings that Vincent made indoors and paintings that he made outdoors.

StoryZoo Van Gogh Museum E5: 'Self-portraits, landscapes and still lifes'

StoryZoo characters Bax, Toby and Pepper visit the Van Gogh Museum. In this episode, they take a good look at different kinds of paintings: self-portraits, landscapes and still lifes.

Two rediscovered paintings: colouring pictures

Two colouring pictures of the Van Gogh paintings stolen in 2002, which were rediscovered 14 years later. No specific assignment.

Before Vincent became an artist

A brief description of Vincent's life before he decided to become an artist, with a short quiz at the end.

9 to 12

Art and design, Geography, History

10 min

Do you know Vincent?

A short presentation about Vincent van Gogh, for use as an introduction to other lessons about the artist or his work.

7 to 12

Art and design, Geography, History

75 min

Vincent’s Japanese examples

The pupils use Japanese prints as inspiration for new work of their own, just as Vincent Van Gogh did. They can do this lesson (with video) on their own.

A painting in eleven words

The students write eleven-word poems based on paintings by Vincent van Gogh.

7 to 12

Art and design, English

60 min

Vincent XL

Using a grid drawing made by Vincent van Gogh, the class will enlarge an image of a Japanese figure.

Zoom in

Students discover a painting, starting with the details. During the class discussion, more and more of the painting is revealed. This is based on the Zoom In routine developed by Project Zero, Harvard.

Painting like Vincent

The students will mix their own paints and make paintings of objects from their everyday lives.

9 to 12

Art and design, English

10 min

Mealtime! The Potato Eaters (1)

The students will each make a sketch at home of the evening meal. At school, they will make paintings based on these sketches in the lesson 'Mealtime! The Potato Eaters (2)'. Suggestion: before assigning the homework, give the introductory lesson 'Do you know Vincent?'.

Vincent's letters

After a brief introduction to the letters between Vincent and his brother Theo, the students write letters about their own art works.

8 to 11

Art and design, Handwriting

15 min

Find the five differences: The Yellow House (2)

In this brief game, the class will take a close look at Vincent van Gogh's painting 'The Yellow House' and then find the differences in five modified versions. Set 2.

Find the five differences: The Yellow House (1)

In this brief game, the class will take a close look at Vincent van Gogh's painting The Yellow House and then find the differences in five modified versions. Set 1.

A portrait without a face

This lesson is about a stolen art work that was rediscovered. It focuses on the question: can a painting of a building also be a kind of portrait?

The rediscovered sea view

After learning about Van Gogh's View of the Sea at Scheveningen, the students will draw or paint 'sea views' of their own.

Painting the outdoors indoors

Working indoors, the class will paint a subject from the outdoors – just as Vincent van Gogh often did.

How many sunflowers?

This brief lesson about the number of sunflowers in Vincent van Gogh's most famous painting is easy to combine with other lessons or activities.

Vincent's collection

After a brief introduction to Vincent's collection of prints, the class will write museum-style labels for objects they have collected.

7 to 11

Art and design, English

15 min