Feeling inspired by Monet.

Coming up with creative and enjoyable, yet educational, art lessons for very young children can be challenging and frustrating for even the most seasoned art teacher. Kindergarten is an especially delicate age because are so developmentally diverse in cognitive functions as well as many motor functions. Children's books provide the inspiration to devise an art lesson that all my students are capable of accomplishing.

Beat the Blahs with Books

I had used literature before with my lessons but never in great depth. I was familiar with literature based education but I thought as an art teacher, this teaching method could not apply to me. The more I searched, however, the more the idea for using literature with art began to appeal to me. What better way to introduce a lesson? Children love to have someone read to them, especially young children.

I found the book Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christine Bjork to be beutifully descriptive. This is a wonderful book to inspire children to create rich images.

A Little Background

Before reading the book to my students, we talked about France and located it on a globe. Most students knew that people usually fly in a place to get there and French people speak a different language. I even taught them a few French to like bonjour and baguette. I also introduced the word "impressionist" and shared with them some basic information about an artist named Claude Monet. I told them about his life, his love Camille, his children, and his garden. I showed them some reproductions of his work, including his work, including his garden.

After reading the book Linnea in Monet's Garden to the class, we did art project that introduced the concept of impressionism. I wanted the students to get a feel for the way Monet applied the paint in a thick, swirling manner, so we looked at several of his reproductions in detail.

Warming up to Impressionism

They particularly liked the lily pad paintings since these were emphasized in the book. I then rounded up as many warming plates as I could. By checking with teachers in the school and by going to as many yard sales as I could, I was able to quite economically gather about eight. (Be sure to use the warming plates that only keep things warm, not the ones that cook. Those get much too hot for this project and may not be safe for young students.)

I hooked the warming plates up to extension cords at the tables and then demonstrated how to paint with melted wax. Since I always have numerous quantities of old crayons on hand, I thought this would be a perfect way to use them up. I placed thin paper on the warming tray and began drawing slowly with the crayons. The crayons began to melt and formed a thick swirling effect, very similar to the visual quality of Monet's paintings.

I gave specific safety instructions not to touch the warming tray or the wax while it was still shiny because it would still be hot. I laid out several Monet reproductions around on the tables and suggested they look closely at the quality of the lines and then create their own images. I was surprised to see how interesting these recreations turned out.

Feeling Good about Art

When they were finished, they simply removed their picture and let it cool for a few minutes. Once cooled, they could actually feel the texture and weight of the wax on their paper.

This terrific hands on experience allowed the students to learn about Monet while it also helped them get a feel for his style. It was a lesson that all students could proudly complete with success.

Literature and art are a wonderful combination. Why not try it with other books?

Lisa Gohr Harman is an art teacher at Biglerville Elementary School in Bigville, Pennsylvania.