From abc to the history of impressionism... for 5 year olds?

Waterlilies; Claude Monet.

I have spent the day at work... I'm a supply teacher, so somedays I don't know until 8.30 that I'm going to work, but today was pre-booked. I like that, it makes arranging pick-ups so much more easier. The only disadvantage with work is that it interfers with crafting, but it pays the bills. Today my work was in a small school where the maximum class size was 22. It's in a nice area, with nice staff and I had a really good time.

This afternoon, especially, I was with the reception. These children are aged 4 and 5, and so full of beans, but really willing to learn. My brief was to look at the painting, talk about the colours and let the children play with some chalk. The teacher's final words were "It doesn't really matter what it looks like as long as the children have had a good time."

And how! By the end of their session, each child was covered in chalk, mostly all over their hands & uniform. It's a good job it brushes off easily, or I'd have been for the highjump. But the experience had been so wonderful for them and me that I was left feeling... tired, yes, but really content with the standards these children had achieved. Satisfaction guaranteed. They had made their own little masterpieces like Claude and each one had made it different. the last little lad had rushed and made a dark shadow that looked just like someone leaning over the pond; one little girl had used all the chalk just as is and her painting fairly sang with colour. We had an art-gallery session at the end when we all looked and commented on the quality of the light, on how different effects had been achieved and compared our work with Claude.

I tell you what, people might pay millions for his work now, but my afternoon amongst the waterlilies with reception was priceless.