Try something a little different today with a Monet Bridge Over A Pond of Waterlilies art project for kids! This famous artist art activity is perfect for exploring impressionist art with a few simple supplies.
Who Is Claude Monet?
Claude Monet was a French artist who loved to draw as a child. Monet’s use of light in his artwork was unique as he tried to capture the changing colors of light. He used various vibrant colors and painted quickly using short brushstrokes. Learn more about color in art.
💡 Explore 24+ Famous Artists for kids here.
Monet was considered an impressionist. Impressionism is a style of painting that began in France in the early 1860s when artists started painting art outside rather than in the studio.
Impressionists did not try to capture a picture of real life but rather an impression of what a person, object, atmosphere, or landscape looked like to them at that specific moment.
Bridge and Water Lilies Art Project
Create your impressionist artwork inspired by Monet’s famous painting, “Japanese Bridge and Waterlilies.” Grab the free printable Monet art project below to follow along!
🎨 TIP: While we provide a structured step-by-step art activity, you can also use your available materials to add your creative take on the project.
Supplies:
- Canvas
- Decorative tape
- Watercolors
- Baking cups
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Printable (see below)
How to Start a Monet Bridge Painting
STEP 1: Design your background with watercolors on canvas.
🎨 TIP: Want to make your own watercolors? Check out our easy DIY watercolors.
🎨 TIP: If painting a large white canvas feels intimidating, keep it simple by adding watercolor blotches. We used blue at the bottom to represent the pond and various greens and blues to describe nature. Of course, yellow at the top for the sun. Try any combination of colors you like!
🎨 This is also a great example of a mixed-media project, combining various textures in a collage format.
STEP 2: Once dry, use decorative tape to create a bridge over the water.
STEP 3: Cut your ‘water lilies’ from the baking cups or other fun paper using scissors. Layer the cupcake liners on top of each other, cutting them smaller to bigger as shown below.
STEP 4: Use a glue stick to add your lilies to your canvas.
Famous Monet Paintings
Bridge Over A Pond Of Water Lilies is one of Monet’s most famous paintings. It is an oil painting that was completed in 1899 and is part of a series of paintings that Monet did of the water lilies in his
garden.
In 1883 Monet turned a small pond into an Asian-influenced water garden. Monet surrounded the pond with a variety of flowers, bushes, and trees. He filled the basin with water lilies and added a Japanese-style wooden bridge in 1895.
He then started painting the pond with its gardens, water lilies, and Japanese Pond for the rest of his life.
This painting shows a Japanese bridge over a pond filled with water lilies. The bridge is surrounded by greenery and flowers, and the water reflects the colors of the sky and trees.
The painting is notable for its use of color and light, as Monet captures the reflections and shadows of the natural world.
More Fun Artist-Inspired Projects To Try
- Georgia O’Keeffe skull art
- MC Escher eye art project
- Grandma Moses winter landscape
- Hilma Af Klint abstract collage
- Hokusai’s The Great Wave
- Tiger art with Rousseau
Helpful Art Resources To Get You Started
Here are a few resources to help you introduce art more effectively to your kids or students and feel confident when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.
Printable Famous Artist Pack
You’ll find each of our famous artists featured in our Famous Artists Project Pack 👇 including a bonus Andy Warhol Coloring Book!
25+ artists and growing with unique projects not available on the website!
