SchoolArts - March 2007

Early Childhood Studio Lesson

Monet’s Reflections Monet’s Reflections Laura Petrovich-Cheney

Iwanted to share with my kindergarten students the joy of Claude Monet’s gardens while also teaching them about reflection and symmetry. I have always enjoyed Monet’s interest in repeating the same subject matter at various times of the day and his preoccupation with the way light affects the actual color of an object.

for a bridge and a body of water and
its bank. Inspired by the character
Linnea, the students also drew a
self-portrait on the bridge. Using
watercolor markers, students col-
ored in their drawing, starting with
the larger areas first. Keep in
mind that any blank spaces on
the paper will also be present
on the bottom half when the
liquid starch is applied.

Monet’s Garden

From 1899 until his death in 1926, Monet painted a series of watercolor landscapes of his water lily garden and Japanese bridge in Giverny, France. Monet eventually abandoned the banks entirely as subject matter and concentrated solely on the water. These paintings, particularly The Water Lilies, show a surface in which the shimmering reflections of sky and trees blend into the floating water lilies.

Children are always fascinated with reflections in water, so teaching about Monet seemed like a natural fit with my kindergarten students. In this lesson, my students created a watercolor marker drawing on one half of a paper, then printed its mirror image onto the other half using liquid starch.

Creating the Reflection

At the beginning of the next time we met, we were ready for the liquid starch application. On the bottom half, the students generously (but not to the point of soaking) painted the starch on the paper. Then they folded the paper together and rubbed the back of the marker page.

Don’t rub too hard or long
as the starch may dry and seal
the halves together. When
the students open the paper,
the reflection will be made
and magic is discovered. The
liquid starch makes the water-
color markers act like a mono-
print and the symmetrical
image is wonderfully produced
on the opposite side of the
paper. Encourage students to
talk about the excitement of
creating a reflection. Ask them if
nese Bridge. We also discussed how they think Monet might have felt
each painting looked different at the same about his work.
different times of the day. Lastly, we
discussed the botanical elements in Resources
the garden. Bjork, Christina. Linnea in Monet’s
Garden. Stockholm: Raben &
Sjorgren Publishers, 1987.
Linnea in Monet’s Garden. First
Run Features, 1999.

Andrew, kindergarten.

Beginning to Draw

I gave each student a 12 x 18"

( 30 x 46 cm) paper folded in half. Students drew their own bridges,

Finding Inspiration ponds, lily pads, trees, and other
To begin the lesson, students were garden treasures on the top half
shown the video Linnea in Monet’s of the paper. The bottom half was
Garden (a book intentionally
and DVD of the Children are always fascinated left blank (fold
same title are _with _reflections _in _water, the bottom half
also available). _so _teaching _about _Monet to the back and _They _discussed _out _of _the _way).
how _reflections seemed like a natural fit. _I _guidedof water are the students to
created, looking at reproductions of create a horizon line in the middle
Monet’s Water Lilies and The Japa- of the top half of the paper, ensur-
ing there would be enough room