My daughter sat at the kitchen table coloring her trees pink and her grass red and her mermaid (lying on the grass, naturally) a whole rainbow of crayola. As I prepared to settle my youngest child for his nap, the two oldest needed an activity to keep them busy for a bit. I grabbed my daughter's crayons, drew some colored dots on scrap paper and placed the labels into an empty egg carton. Then, I sent my 7-year-old daughter and her five-year-old brother outside, carrying the egg cartons which were to become paintboxes from nature. Multiple versions were made and filled with ripe fruits, tiny blossoms, flecks of dirt... and I got the youngest his nap without interruption. Brilliant.
Side note: a five year old doesn't mind adding a live snail to his 'paint box' but will move the silver and brown label side by side so that the color label will be right even if the snail decides to move.
This post was featured on: naturallyeducation.com
18 comments:
Cute!
Was a communist era apartment block included for the grey entry?
you're right, brilliant ... but not just the concept; the 5 yr. old's forethought in repositioning the colors was so on target!
The light looks beautiful! What did she choose for the mustard yellow color?
Shelby, I love your blog! I want to get a cup of tea while you show me pictures of your new city and projects you are making and stories of your kids. And I bet there are cookies baking too! We only saw each other a little in Bkk and its fun that my thoughts of you in person is here on your blog.
I have the kids this weekend. I'll do this with them! Thank you!
Found your link on teach mama's site! I like this project!
Beautiful! What a great idea and what a gorgeous picture.
(stopping by from the weteach Summer Challenge Link Party)
I found you from teach mama. Hi! It is really cool that you are an American mom living overseas! Do you homeschool your kids?
Great picture!
Coming from teachmama too! Fun idea!
This is a very fun idea! We'll be trying it! :) Thanks!
@Annie: I'm so happy you found my blog... what a fun treat. Thank you for the nice compliment. (And, yes, there are always cookies baking!)
@Alison: Thanks for visiting a new bohemia and for the question! No, I haven't home schooled formally, but wouldn't be opposed to it if it were the best situation for my child/children. My first child started school at age five in a British International school based in Bangkok and my two other children have yet to start learning in a school setting.
Love! (and I especially enjoy your note) I will feature this with the Backyard Science Round-Up next week. Thank you so much for adding this to the Smart Summer Challenge!
@Candace: Absolutely! Thank you for adding it to the backyard science round up-- such a great summer series happening!
What a wonderful activity! This is a super way to increase your child's observation skills and help them see nature in a whole new way!
simple but so worthwhile!! thanks for sharing in this week's smart summer challenge!
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