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Leonardo da Vinci Homeschool Unit Study

This Leonardo da Vinci homeschool unit study will give both of you a chance to learn a lot while having fun.  We gathered together some awesome resources and there is plenty to explore including activities, books, art, and game.

Leonardo  da Vinci is someone who is so very interesting to study.  He was, indeed, a Renaissance man.  He was into everything from paintings (The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper) to machines (helicopter, armored war machines.)  He created flying machines, bridges, maps, and so much more.

His designs have been used to create many modern items.  It is hard to image one man doing all that he was able to do in his lifetime. Leonardo is fascinating.

Use this Leonardo da Vinci Homeschool Unit Study to discover interesting information and to have fun learning about Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci Homeschool Unit Study with activities, books, art, games and more | BrainPowerBoy.com

Special thanks to Wikimedia Commons for use of the images in the collages.

We have included quotes from Leonardo da Vinci in this article–I hope you and your boy like them.

It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. ~Leonardo da Vinci

We were lucky enough to go to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit when it came to a community nearby.  It was an incredible experience.  The exhibit itself is spectacular, with video, large wooden replicas of Leonardo’s machines, copies of sketches and more. We had a great time.

If this exhibit is within driving distance and you are interested in learning more about da Vinci I can think of no better way than to attend.  The pictures of the hang-glider and the automobile above are similar to the types of things we saw.

This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. All opinions are my own and I share things I think would be of interest to boys. 

Leonardo da Vinci Homeschool Unit Study:

Learning never exhausts the mind. ~Leonardo da Vinci 

Leonardo da Vinci Art:

Leonardo da Vinci.org website has the complete collection of paintings by Leonardo as well as a brief biography.

“Draw” your own Mona Lisa.  This clever activity has the face and hands of the Mona Lisa present with the rest of the page blank to fill in as you will.

There are a few slide shows with Leonardo’s drawings that you might enjoy.  Ground Vehicles, Water Devices, War Machines plus some info on his inventions and his drawings as well.

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. ~Leonardo da Vinci

Books on Leonardo da Vinci:



See also the great book list from Time Warp Trio in the activities section below.

Leonardo da Vinci Homeschool Unit Study Activities:

There are several “foldies” here that you can put together.  Foldies are printouts that you can fold into an object.  There is a tank, sub, motorbike and hang glider for you to try.  Scroll to the bottom of the motorbike link for the other foldies. UPDATE:  These are now only available to those in the UK.

Workshop invention challenge.  Create an invention of your own using the pieces in the pdf. I don’t know if you can still send in your invention as this site is a bit old but it might be fun to do just for yourself. UPDATE:  These are now only available to those in the UK.

Leonardo da Vinci for Kids: His Life and Ideas, 21

Leonardo da Vinci for Kids: His life and Ideas by Janis Herbert is a wonderful free pdf with 21 activities included.  It tells the story of da Vinci from his birth to his death with information about his art, his inventions and more included.  The activities are simple and don’t require any special materials.  Very well done and worth checking out.  Note—depending on your views some material may not be right for your family.   If you would rather get a copy of the book you can click through on the book image.

Leonardo wrote in Italian starting on the right side of the page and moving toward the left.  just the opposite of the way that we write.  Try mirror writing for yourself on paper or you can type something in here (click on button for wayback machine) and see what it looks like.  While not in Italian, it is in a fancy font.

This is really cool.  You can take a look at pages from Leonardo’s notebooks.  Click on the blank page to start, you may have to zoom in to see the pages and get them to become clear.

There are a few activities on the Time Warp Trio Adventures of Leonardo da Vinci site because of this book Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci #14 (Time Warp Trio). They also have a nice book list if you would like to do further reading on Leonardo.

Build your own catapult! We have a selection you don’t want to miss.

Here are 3 models that we saw when we went to the Leonardo exhibit and they are made of wood and are quite nice.  I think a few of the pieces could use a little bit of sanding but other than that they were of high quality. They do require you to glue pieces together but the models are for beginners.


Throw together a box of recycled items and have your boy create a da Vinci invention all his own.

Here are a few questions to ask:

  • What does it do?
  • How does it work?
  • What is it called?
  • Who would use it?
  • How would it benefit them?

Don’t worry about the product he makes, just let him enjoy the process and the experience of invention.

 Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in. ~Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci Homeschool Unit Study with books, art, activities, games and more | BrainPowerBoy

I hope you enjoyed this Leonardo da Vinci Homeschool Unit Study. If you did, please take a second to use the sharing buttons below. Thanks much for stopping by 🙂

Other resource guides you might enjoy:
Play and Learn with Rube Goldberg
Dig this Dinosaur Fossils Resource Guide
See all BrainPowerBoy homeschool unit studies here.

Gabi

Sunday 13th of July 2014

WOW! Definitely pinning this & subbing too! I need to keep an eye on u my friend! ;)

Sheila

Sunday 13th of July 2014

Hey Gabi, So glad you like it--thanks for the pin! Always appreciated. Do stop back soon :)

Clare

Friday 4th of July 2014

Wow this is such an amazing resource - thank you so much for pulling all of this together. I'm going to have to save this until my two are old enough to learn all about the great Leonardo.

Sheila

Saturday 5th of July 2014

Thanks for your kind words. There are a few things for younger kids on there but not as young as 2. I will have to keep the younger set in mind.

montessoricarrie

Monday 30th of June 2014

So inspiring to take another look at da Vinci! What an amazing resource you have pulled together!

Sheila

Tuesday 1st of July 2014

Thanks--great to hear you liked it. I appreciate you taking the time to comment!

Jodie @ Growing Book by Book

Saturday 28th of June 2014

So many great resources. Pinning for when my boys get a little older.

Sheila

Saturday 28th of June 2014

Thanks Jodie. I will have to work on a few things for younger boys soon.

Jill

Saturday 28th of June 2014

What an awesome list of all things related to da Vinci! I love your choices that you included because of the variety of topics you chose. Pinning this to look at including in our school lessons :-)

Sheila

Saturday 28th of June 2014

Thanks so much Jill! I hope it works well for your school lessons.