This week, third graders at Oxbow had another fun project with leaves! We had been learning about warm and cool colors already so I thought this might be a fun way to tie in some basic color theory. First we looked at actual leaves and I asked them if they could identify what they were: maple, oak, willow? For some reason, I got a lot of guesses for birch (which surprised me) but anyway, eventually they got them all figured out. I had a few ringers in there like sassafras which has three different leaf types (one being shaped like a Michigan which delighted them) and a beautiful silver maple. Next, I helped them learn the parts of the leaves as I demonstrated how to trace around them onto their 12" X14" white paper. We looked at the different colors of the leaves and they were given the option of painting them camo-style or any way they wished except all one color. We discussed warm colors (think fire: red, yellow, orange) and then I passed out styrofoam trays with tabs of yellow and red tempera and had them mix their own variations of warm colors. Then they painted their leaves and set them to dry.
This week we talked about cool colors (think ocean) which are blue, green, violet and variations in that range. Students found cinderblock walls to use as rubbing plates and blended cool colored crayons turned sideways to create interesting texture. Next they went to the back counter to the splatter paint stations. They dipped toothbrushes into the tempera paint, then took a thumb and splatter painted different cool colors over the crayon. I encouraged them not to worry, if they ended up with a few blobs of paint, we'd just glue a leaf over it later. Then then blower dried the background with hair blow dryers. Finally, they cut out their leaves and glued them randomly around the page. Voila! Lovely!