Little ones LOVE finger painting! Sometimes finger paintings turn out a little less attractive than desired though – I mean those swipes of paint all mushed together until it’s just a brown blob are not necessarily our favorite things to hang on the fridge. Paint beautiful water lilies with kids!
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*Thanks to The Crafty Classroom for this beautiful idea!
This Claude Monet inspired finger painting, however, is sure to turn into a masterpiece with the right colors, negative space, and a little direction.
But don’t forget, this is a process art activity, so let the kids run wild with the actual painting part because, yes, we want beautiful products, but, even more, we want the kids to get a great experience out of engaging their senses! (And brown blobs can be adorable too!)
Supplies:
- Large poster boards cut into squares, canvas boards, cardstock or other sturdy material that will hold paint (We used these canvas panels. They’re amazing!)
- Washable paint (We used finger paints in blue, red and yellow)
- Large paper plates for paint mixing
- Thin painters tape or masking tape
Directions:
Tape the bridge outline onto the canvas. (It looks like a ladder.) The kids should push the tape down really well, so no paint sneaks underneath. Then, the kids can use their fingers to mix the paint colors and dab them onto their canvases.
I encouraged them to put different colored paints on all of their fingers and dab all over like they were playing the piano, and that seemed to mix the colors throughout the canvas well.
The kids should cover the entire canvas (or at least the areas around the bridge); this way peeling the tape off will really *wow* them. Which brings us to…peeling the tape off! When the kids are done painting, carefully peel the tape off to reveal Monet’s bridge! They enjoyed finger painting and you get to show off a Monet-worthy piece of art! And that’s how we painted water lilies like Monet.
Want more Monet? Try Toddlers Paint Water Lilies with Claude Monet.
I also showed the kids Claude Monet’s “Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies” for inspiration.
Here are some fun Claude Monet picture books you can incorporate into this craft:
Looking for more painting projects? Try:
- Jackson Pollock Inspired Yarn Painting for Kids
- Van Gogh’s Starry Night Wax Paper Painting for Kids
- Georges Seurat Inspired Process Art (Painting with Bricks)!