Monet's Watergarden

(display of daisies and watergarden)

I thought this project would be fun for my third graders for the beginning of Spring, and it was!

First day, I read a book on Monet, and showed some bigger prints of his work.

Then, I walked them through drawing the bridge, pond and lily pads(big circles with little circles on top) very lightly so they would have some gidlines when they painted.

Then I gave them teal, white, pink, and purple to put the first layer of tempera paint.

They painted Xs, with teal and white paint,big and small above the bridge, then painted verticle lines below the bridge with the teal and white, and the lily pads (but not the flower)then a layer of teal on the lilypad.

They painted the bridge with the purple.

Second day, I put ut the same colors as the class before (in case they need to finish), plus y ellow, blue, and a different green than teal.

I told them to go over their Xs, lily pads and verticle lines with the 2nd green and yellow. Then add touches of blue to their pond, and chose a color for their flowers.

They also were allowed to add little pink or purple dots to the verticle lines below the bridge to

make flowers. They were also asked to add some blue lines to their bridge to make it look more 3D.

After they were done we discussed what time of day it might be in our painting, as Monet often painted the same thing, but at different times of day so it looked different.

* I think next time I do this project I might let them choose what they want to draw in their watergardens.