Monet Saw Haystacks, We See Menchies

After talking about how artists choose their subjects, 2nd graders had fun making pretend Menchies frozen yogurt sundaes with oil pastels. (Menchies is the yogurt shop across the street from our school.) I did this earlier in the year with 3rd graders and they had such a great time decorating their make-believe sundaes that I had to do the lesson again! The link to that lesson is HERE.

First we looked at Monet's study of light on haystacks at different times of the day and in different seasons, noticing how the light on the haystacks made them look 3 dimensional. I loved the way one little guy raised his hand and asked,  "Wasn't he the guy who painted lilypads in the pond in his garden?" That, of course, led us to a side conversation about Giverny and Monet's fabulous garden! We also took a peek at a few Thiebaud paintings with cylinders to see where the light was coming from for him. Kids got pretty proficient in identifying the direction of the light source directed at cylinders. Last, I used a flashlight shining on a real Menchies cup to solidify the concept.

When we did this lesson with 3rd graders, the folks at Menchies took note and sent us this cool acknowledgement!!