October 14, 2008

mouse paint

When I taught pre-school, it was always a bit amusing when we had a focus on colors and parents would start in a little tentatively: "But, my son already knows his colors!" or "If they can identify the colors, will you be able to do anymore with that topic?...I mean, they are just pre-schoolers."

Well, I was always glad they asked!
Josiah is enjoying colors right now, and yes, he could identify them quite a while ago. This particular day we mixed colors and used the adorable book Mouse Paint to read & work with. Using white muffin liners {as the 'mice'}, white paper and food coloring, we mixed away to form new colors as we read through the book.
And, here are a few other options of questions to explore with pre-schoolers:

what happens when we mix {red,blue}, {red, yellow}, etc?

do you see the color_____ in this room? on your clothes? {play I Spy}

what do we eat that is yellow? green? purple? {or take them to the fridge or grocery store to explore this one}

what colors can we find outside? this nature box idea is a great one for this :: try using nature items to make colors to paint with.

share about how God created colors :: read the story of Creation in Genesis and think about the colors that God saw {I've used a pile of different color construction paper & let the child choose which colors match as I read--black for darkness covering the earth, white for stars, yellow for sun, etc.}

share about how colors help us {makes things beautiful, helps to enjoy our world}. inform that some people cannot see colors and everything is shades of black & white.

talk about rainbows

share how our world changes colors :: seasonal changes {ex: leaves, snow blanketing everything in white} or also talk about animals that change color and do a mini-study on camouflage

have your child sort colors :: using pom-poms, buttons, skittles! or other items, have them pile all of the same colors together

use the above items to make either two-color patterns or if your child is ready, three-color patterns {ex: red, blue, red, blue or yellow, red, green...yellow, red, green...}. have them guess which color is next in the pattern

Oh, the list is endless! Have fun and enjoy colors all around.


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