Claude Monet is one of the most famous painters of all time! He helped introduce the world to impressionism, which at first, was not well received. Use this unit study to learn about Monet’s art, his struggles, his friends and family, his beloved Giverny and the country of France where he lived and painted.
Grab the Who Was Claude Monet? book, sign-up to receive the FREE printable unit study and then explore the other resources below! And if you like this unit study, check out our 30+ other FREE Unit Studies here.
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The Book about Claude Monet
The Claude Monet unit study is based upon Who Was Claude Monet?. This book shares how and why Monet’s technique of painting was new at the time and originally not well received. Learn how he struggled for many years as a painter. This book also shares details of his friends, family, and his house at Giverny.
You could use this book as a read aloud or have 3rd-5th graders read it on their own. We spread the book out over about three days.
Sale
- Audible Audiobook
- Ann Waldron (Author) - Arthur Morey (Narrator)
- English (Publication Language)
- 12/06/2016 (Publication Date) - Listening Library (Publisher)
$5.50
The Claude Monet FREE Printable Unit Study
The printable unit study includes the following:
Notebooking pages about Claude Monet’s life.
A timeline activity to chart Monet’s life and work.
Artist notebooking page: print one for each additional artist you want to study. Contains space to record the artist’s birth and death years, country of origin, style of art, other fun facts and a place to glue pictures of their artwork.
Compare and Contrast Activities: Compare Realism with Monet’s style of painting, Impressionism.
Money Word Problems: Monet struggled with finances early in his career. These three levels of word problems contain financial problems he may have had to solve. Choose the one that matches your child’s skill level!
France Notebooking Page: Includes a map and the flag of France to color as well as lots of space to write facts about France.
A following direction activity that teaches French geography while sharing about Monet’s life.
Receive access to download the Claude Monet printables as well as printables for 30+ other unit studies…
Videos about Claude Monet and Giverny
This short video will give your children a good introduction to Claude Monet. (Approx. 3 min.)
Your children can research more about Monet at Ducksters.com.
Here is a tour of his gardens at Giverny where Monet spent the last 43 years of his life. (Approx. 3 min.):
Learn about France
Monet was born in Paris, France and spent most of his life between there and Le Havre, France. Here is a short video to introduce your children to France ( 1.5 min.):
You can learn more about France over at Ducksters. This site can help your kids fill out the France notebooking page included in the printable packet above.
Want a whole unit study about France (and four other countries)…
Create Your Own Art
One of the best ways to learn about art is to make your own! Monet and his friends were known for painting ‘en plein air’ or outside.This was somewhat novel at the time as most artists spent at least some time on each painting in their studio.
Maybe you and you children can try some outside drawing or even painting! You will need something sturdy to draw or paint on. Our favorite drawing books are the Strathmore Sketch books. Or you may want to go all out and get an inexpensive easel and paints.
Or if you want to stay inside and have someone teach you how to draw, then check out the Art for Kids Hub drawing videos. They are our favorite drawing videos! But, for this unit study, I thought it would be fun to make a water color painting with them since it would be more ‘impressionistic’! Here is one to get you started (16 minutes):
Another one of our other favorite ways to make art are with the Take Time for Art kits. You can see all the projects we made from their Middles Ages kit here!
Visit Art Museums
You don’t have to live near a major art museum to see beautiful art. You can take virtual tours of museums! Here are a few to get you started:
The Guggenheim Museum in New York City
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City…this one is made for kids!
Make Your Own Museum
Have your children set up an “art museum” in your home. They can gather their artwork together and decide how they should display it. Will all of the artwork be featured or will some be denied like The Salon? Will they show certain works of art together? Why did they group them this way?
Maybe your children can create tickets to sell to their art museum or even design a brochure with a map and descriptions of their collections. Encourage them to get as creative as they want!
What is your favorite way activity to learn about Monet? Comment below!
Related Resources
Our favorite colored pencils and markers:
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Prismacolor Premier Double-Ended Art Markers, Fine and Chisel Tip, 12 Pack
- High-Performance Art Markers: Dual-ended with fine and chisel tips
- Rich Colors: Advanced dye-based ink formulation for richly saturated color
- Bold Lines: Fine point lays down sharp lines while the chisel tip creates multiple line widths
- Consistent Color: Single source of ink guarantees color consistency at both ends
- 12 Piece Marker Set: Includes wide color range from Canary Yellow to Black
$22.35 
Some fun, informative picture books about Monet:
The Magical Garden of Claude Monet (Anholt's Artists Books For Children)
- Anholt, Laurence (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages - 10/01/2007 (Publication Date) - Sourcebooks Explore (Publisher)
$9.99
Sale
- Beautiful pictures on every page.
- Hardcover Book
- Björk, Christina (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 48 Pages - 10/01/2012 (Publication Date) - Sourcebooks Explore (Publisher)
$10.69
