color painters

This week's nature story was "Color Painters", from the Enki Education 1st Grade Nature Story collection. The story begins in the spring, when the Color Painters awaken, and little yellow and little red carefully paint their world. A big thunderstorms awakens Green, and he paints over everything yellow and red did. Yellow and red keep on painting here and there all summer, but the colorful blossoms are mostly hidden by green. But eventually, when the sun starts going to bed later and later, green lets his paint run back into his buckets, and the yellows and reds are revealed once more, for a brief while, until they too collect their colors back in their buckets and go back to sleep while White takes over and paints everything.

After recalling the story this morning, we pulled out the wool board and "painted" a scene with a woodland, a field, and a stream. First we carefully put bits of red and yellow here and there for the spring buds. Then we broke out large chunks of green and spread those across the scene, covering up all the reds and yellows. (Seen here in progress!)

Then the seasons changed, and we removed all the green to reveal the colors of autumn. We added orange as well (a combination of red and yellow, as the boys pointed out), and then we slowly started making the colors fall from the trees to the ground (seen here). My plan was to leave the leaves on the ground and cover them with snow, but the kids want to "rake" them up and take them off the canvas altogether.

Finally, White takes over.

For our Family Adventure to support our story this afternoon, we are heading to a Fall Festival at an apple orchard (which also has a field of pumpkins, where we will pick out that perfect pumpkin for real!) -- the ride out there, the hay ride while there, the ride home, all opportunities to witness the autumn colors. A little leaf raking and leaf-pile jumping will also fit in with our story work.

The kids (on the left in this photo) already have a head start -- they spent the afternoon yesterday playing in the leaves with their friends B (by the tree) and Fluffy at our favorite park.

"Fall, fall, I love it all!" declared J.