Claude Monet Water Lily Art Project for Kids (Free Printable Craft)

Create beautiful water lily art inspired by Claude Monet! This easy cut-and-paste famous artist craft is a fantastic way to introduce young artists to Impressionism while exploring color, texture, and shape. Kids can build their own paper water lily using our free printable templates (or design their own).

Monet Water Lilly Art Project Focus

Artist: Claude Monet
Art Style: Impressionism
Elements of Art: Color, Shape, Texture
Grades: K–4
Time: 30–45 minutes

Kids will explore Monet’s style and color blending while creating a layered paper water lily on a watercolor background inspired by Monet’s garden pond.

Supplies Needed

Claude Monet Water Lily Template (flower and leaf printable below)
Scissors
Glue stick
Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
Watercolor paints (blue, turquoise, green)
Table salt
Paintbrushes
Heavy paper or cardstock
Optional: construction paper or painted paper scraps

How to Make a Claude Monet Water Lily Craft

🎨 Try our mixed media Monet Bridge Painting project too!

Step 1: Prep Background: Paint the Water Background (Optional) or Use Template

Use the free template or paint a sheet of watercolor paper with shades of blue and turquoise to represent the pond water. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle table salt over the surface. The salt will absorb some of the color, creating a beautiful, speckled texture that looks like shimmering light on water. Let it dry completely before brushing off the salt.

💡Check out the watercolor and salt technique here. Alternatively, you can try the watercolor and plastic wrap method here.

Step 2: Color and Cut the Templates

Color the flower and leaf templates using bright pinks, purples, and greens — or print them on colored paper. Carefully cut out each piece. You can layer multiple flower shapes for depth.

Step 3: Assemble the Water Lily

Glue the leaf near the bottom of your watercolor background. Then stack the flower pieces, largest to smallest, gluing each layer in the center. Add the yellow center to finish your Monet-inspired bloom!

Make It a More Involved Art Project

Would you like to extend this lesson to older grades or art centers?

Painted Paper Version: Instead of coloring the templates, use them as tracers on painted or construction paper. Students can paint large sheets in various colors, then cut shapes from their painted textures to create layered, mixed-media lilies.
Color Mixing Exploration: Encourage kids to experiment with cool and warm colors as they blend paints to create unique shades for petals and water.
Impressionist Pond Scene: Have students create multiple lilies on one large background to mimic Monet’s large water lily panels.

🎨 What other materials or supplies can you use? Go ahead and put your own spin on this craft. Additionally, explore more Monet-inspired projects below. Our famous artists pack includes a fantastic biography page!

Who Was Claude Monet?

Claude Monet (1840–1926) was a French painter and one of the founders of Impressionism, a movement that focused on capturing light and color rather than fine detail. Monet loved painting outdoors and often painted the same scene at different times of day to show how the light changed.

One of his most famous series is “Water Lilies,” inspired by the garden pond at his home in Giverny, France. Monet painted the reflections, colors, and ripples of water using quick brushstrokes and layers of soft color.

Art Vocabulary

Impressionism: An art style that captures light and color with quick, visible brushstrokes.
Texture: The way something looks or feels; in art, texture can be either real or created through patterns or brushwork.
Hue: Another word for color.
Value: How light or dark a color appears.

Making Tips

Try this as a spring or garden art project to connect with nature themes.
Perfect for sub plans or art-on-a-cart lessons — all templates are print-and-go!
For younger students, pre-cut flower shapes to simplify the setup.
Use glue sticks instead of liquid glue to avoid wrinkling watercolor paper.

Monet Art Extension Ideas

Combine this with a science tie-in about pond ecosystems or plant parts.
Create a gallery display of Monet-inspired water lily ponds with blue backgrounds for a classroom or hallway showcase.
Integrate this project into a famous artist’s unit.