Art History For Kids

Homeschool Review Crew

HiGASFY Art History Video Series

Art is something my children are passionate about and I really try to help them learn more.  But this is something that I’m not very good at. Art History for Kids is something that has been fun and educational for us!  We received a three-month subscription to HiGASFY Art History Video Series as part of the Homeschool Review Crew.  These art history for kids videos cover different eras and have several different aspects to them which I’ll discuss below.  

About the Program

This is a unique program that teaches art history for kids through downloadable lesson plans and videos.  There are four different eras that are taught.  Those are Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist.  Each level of the curriculum provides you with videos, lesson plans, flashcards, and a name that artist section.

Art History for Kids is geared towards grades 1-8 and should be used over a 16 week period.  These lessons and videos area available on DVD or through an online subscription program.  We received the online subscription. 

The four art periods and their artists discussed are:

Renaissance: DaVinci, Raphael, Michelangelo 

Baroque: Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer

Impressionist: Monet, Pissarro, Degas

Post-Impressionist: Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso

Just using the videos alone gives you a wealth of knowledge to absorb and put to use.

Let’s talk about the videos. 

Each of the four sections has twelve videos underneath it.  Each video is roughly 20 minutes long.  

The videos are engaging and feature the creator Ms. Beth as well as her sidekick Gasfy.  

After watching the video an art activity is suggested that takes approximately 30-40 minutes.  

Our Thoughts

This is such a fun unique program.  I’ve never heard of one quite like it.  We’ve enjoyed using it and focusing on the Renaissance time period.

We’ve been following the lesson plan guide.  I chose the Renaissance period because I already knew some of the artists and thought it would be a fun period to start with.  It happens to be one of my favorites and I love all the wonderful pieces created during this time.

Of course, because I’m me we have added books on the artists to our book basket to have on hand to read and learn more about each artist as well. 

As you can see above the weekly lessons have some super fun names and ideas being taught.  Week one is a no video week and lets you get ready for the fun about to begin.  We did lesson one on a Monday and then started lesson two on the next day.  So, this whole Renaissance section takes sixteen weeks with each week being a lesson, but for us, I tried to do around two lessons per week so we could get a bit more done.  

I would not do more than two lessons per week.  We tended to break up and do more of the activities though so if you’re not going to be using the lesson plans you might do more per week.  I liked the vocabulary and critical thinking questions that go along with the lessons.

For our homeschool if we were going to use this across a full semester I would say one day one watch the video lesson, day two work on the vocabulary, day three do the critical thinking, and then on day four do the drawing or artwork projects with day five your catch up day.

The review games are really fun too.  I printed off and laminated the Renaissance flashcards so my kids can just play with and learn those while we’re doing the units. 

You do have to cut out the answers and glue to the backs of the art pieces before laminating.  Not hard but it is a bit more time-consuming.  

Name that Artist is also fun to go through but it’s a bit harder to cover up who the artist is and what the work is.  Maybe I’m not doing that one correctly but it’s still fun and I love looking at all the artwork.  

We recommend this program as a fun way to teach art history for kids.  But in reality, it teaches so much and I’m learning right alongside my kids.  I’ve shared how we used it a bit differently than intended and I plan to keep using it until our subscription runs out.  

Will we purchase a subscription to keep using it?  I’m not sure.  Probably not for this semester as we are doing an art class with our homeschool coop so I don’t need another art credit, but I would definitely consider this for our next semester to use a different time period.  Baroque will be my next choice. 

Not the best shot, but I wanted to mention how I love that this series talks about God!  During our Renaissance sessions, we often talk about God and how the artists were teaching people about God through their paintings.  Also, check out all the neat art around her!

These are such fun videos.  They are engaging and they teach so much.  Ms. Beth is great at what she’s doing and I wish I’d had an art teacher like her as a child!

Learn More

Learn more about art history for kids by reading all of the reviews that are linked up on the Main Blog Post over on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.  There are several reviewers with different age levels they’re teaching so you’re sure to find someone that meshes with your style and age range.  You can also find HiGASFY Art History Video Series on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.