Thursday, September 8, 2022

Including Art in Your Homeschool: A Review of Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh

A Mom's Quest to Teach logo: Including Art in Your Homeschool: A Review of Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh; background copy of The Starry Night

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this activity from the Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Our children love art – especially our seven-year-old daughter. She is always asking me if we can make a craft, paint, or sew. She loves expressing herself in art and music. But I don't always like the prep work and cleanup required. So, I love art kits like Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh because everything we need is in one package with minimal clean-up needed. 

Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh is part of the 2022 Sixth-Grade Curriculum Kit. The package states ages 5-99 which seems just about right. A young child may not create as intricate designs but they will still enjoy recreating Van Gogh's famous artwork. 

What is Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh? 

This is an art kit with four scratchboards produced by Djeco. It comes with a booklet and a wooden stylus for scratching away the top layer of the cards.

The four paintings that inspire the scratchboards that are included in the kit are (although my interpretation may be mistaken): 

  1. The Starry Night 
  2. Sunflowers 
  3. Fishing Boats at Sea
  4. The Large Plane Trees 
The Inspired by kit by Djeco is designed in France, so you will find the information and instructions printed in French, English, German, Spanish, and six other languages. I've found most Djeco products are self-explanatory, though. You can figure them out without too much written instruction. 


A Mom's Quest to Teach logo: Including Art in Your Homeschool: A Review of Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh; partially completed tree art work



Ideas for Using Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh in Your Homeschool 


Read about Vincent Van Gogh prior to starting your artwork. Look at the four paintings used for inspiration and others to look for themes, favorite subjects, and colors. Just keep in mind that Van Gogh led a troubled life where money problems plagued him, and he ultimately committed suicide. You will want to preview any materials regarding his life before you share them with your children. 

After recreating the paintings using the scratch cards and stylus, ask your children if they recreate these paintings or others by Van Gogh with other mediums. Take out your paints, watercolor pencils, or even crayons to get creative. 

Finally, go on a field trip. There are many museums that have Van Gogh paintings on display. If you do not live near one of them, visit the website for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to view his works of art and learn more about the artist. (They even have a spot labeled for children, but I would still preview it before sharing it with your own children.)


A Mom's Quest to Teach logo; working on a Van Gogh inspired artwork



Our Thoughts 


I really like that there is no wrong way to produce the art on the scratch cards. You can leave as little or as much blue as you wish. Or you can reveal lots of the colors underneath as you create your own work of art. 

It all fits neatly in the envelope. It is easy to put away in between working on the pictures. As a family that has a lot of homeschool materials and resources, I value resources that are neat and tidy to put away for storage. 

It would be great if there was more than one stylus as both my children would like to work on their pictures at the same time. But having one leads to our practicing our patience. 

Our nine-year-old son stays it "helps you make art" and is a "guideline for making art." He noted that you can add things. He added his own boat to his boat picture and a letter M on the sail. Our seven-year-old daughter enjoyed working on the trees card together with me. She said Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh is "good for kids." She liked that they showed you examples so you could draw similar pictures yourself. 

I would recommend Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh to families who wish to include art in their homeschool days in a unique way. The lessons about Van Gogh and the completion of the scratch cards can take as long or as short as you wish. This provides you with great flexibility and is a good fit for the 2022 Sixth-Grade Timberdoodle Curriculum Kit.


Completed scratch board art work inspired by Van Gogh


Looking for more Unique Products from Timberdoodle? 


Read my review of Tenzi here: Dice, Decks, and Boards: Tenzi Game and Tenzi Card Deck
Read my review of a fun crystal art kit here: Art in Our Homeschool: A Review of Tiger Crystal Art Card Kit

2 comments:

  1. I haven’t heard of these before - what a fun idea! I love art kits that have everything all in one pack, it makes things so easy for busy homeschool moms. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Wow this looks cool. I wish my kids enjoyed art more.

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