Back in the fall I didn’t talk about Vincent Van Gogh during our art show because I was saving it for a whole unit in the spring. When I lived in Portland, Oregon I had the good fortune of living next to an artist who studied Van Gogh and focused her own work around Van Gogh’s life and art. She rode her bicycle all over the Netherlands and France following in Van Gogh’s footsteps and photographing the places that Van Gogh painted.
This is Van Gogh’s painting of the church in Arles, and below is my friend Pat’s photograph of the church. She said this horse magically walked up to her while she was setting up her tripod.
Here’s another one of my favorite places to visit. The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Has your child taken any of these virtual tours? It might be fun just to learn how to navigate a bit.
https://360stories.com/amsterdam/story/van-gogh-museum
What if we could go see Van Gogh’s paintings like this. We would have to hold hands because it is very dark.
Here’s a story about Van Gogh painting his house. What color would you use?
I like to use Van Gogh’s Starry Night as an inspiration to create sensory experiences for preschoolers. I also like to set up provocations for them to create a swirling, moving starry night all their own with paint and collage. What would their starry night look like. Would it be above a city or would it be above mountains?
After talking about Van Gogh’s starry night you could make a night sky with blue and yellow playdough and cut out squares of dark construction paper for the city below. I might make curvy mountains or create my house out of geometic shapes.
Is it time to make more playdough? You could make some sunflowers like Van Gogh and incorporate some sunflower seeds. Plant some in your yard too.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/517984394644407082/
Have you made slime. This galaxy slime would be fun to create your own Starry Night.
Here’s the recipe. You can use plain glue, food coloring, and glitter instead of glitter glue.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/517984394644407082
I almost forgot the simplest and most profound way to be like Van Gogh. Get your art supplies together in some kind of container, pack some bread and cheese in a napkin, and go outside to paint or draw.
Next stop. Cicadas!!!!
Have you seen the local news about the seventeen year cicadas that are emerging across our area. My friend in Rocky Mount says that her chickens are gobbling them up as they come out of the ground. I haven’t seen any yet at my house, but I’m looking. Can you believe that these guys have been in the dirt since 2003? There are going to be millions of extra cicadas this year. Do you like to find the exoskeletons on trees when you are outside?
Garden Children put your hands in the air. Wherever you are we wish you well.
