Starry Night

Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh, is a very kid friendly artwork.  It can be used to teach some of the basics of landscape (horizon line, foreground, middle ground, background) and also for teaching about using our imaginations.  Did you know that the village nestled quietly beneath that windy night sky does not actually exist?  Vincent made up the picture from his own imagination!

My first grade students created their own 'starry night' paintings using oil pastels.  I wasn't interested in getting a room full of Van Gogh look alike paintings.  However, you can tell from the similarities amongst the designs that I did do an example drawing on the board.  Example drawings are a catch 22.  You need to show the students what to do, but then you end up with a room full of the exact same image.  That is one I am still working on.