The four seasons change is always accompanied by color, and it's something that children can see quite clearly. With the arrival of early winter, nature presents various bright and vibrant colors. On Newton's campus, our students went outside and used their five senses to explore, examine, experience, and discover the natural color and beauty around them.
Discover and Collect Natural Colors
What color can you find in nature, particularly in early winter? Our students discovered that the ginkgo trees, the red maples, the hedges, the chrysanthemums, etc., had changed colors over the past weeks. Our students took color cards and had a scavenger hunt to find colors in nature that matched the cards. They found that there were so many different shades of reds, greens, oranges, etc. They also found that leaves in various stages of turning were also different shades, with older leaves having darker colors than younger leaves.
Explore and Extract Natural Colors
When examined closely, every flower, leaf, and fruit holds thousands of colors. Our teachers taught our students about the world, color, and how to extract color from natural materials. They learned that plants and vegetables have pigments and, when done correctly, can be made into a dye they could use to tie dye with.
How are plant dyes and pigments extracted? The children were curious. They peeled persimmons, oranges, onions, and ground other natural materials to prepare to make the dye. After the raw materials were ready, they tried lots of methods to extract the pigments from the plants, like heating, soaking, and using alcohol. They had various color extraction experiments and cheered excitedly when they found the color had changed. Our little scientists had successfully made their own environmentally friendly dye.
Preserve natural colors
Although the colors of nature are beautiful, how can we hold on to them? After a lengthy discussion, we decided to use the dyes to make tie-dye. Our students learned various methods of tying their cloths, chose their dye colors, and began the process of tie-dying, which included tying, soaking, cleaning, and drying … Each cloth was beautifully dyed, creating a precious memento for them to keep.
In this gorgeous early winter season, our students turned their curiosity, exploration, and desire for the colors of nature into beautiful keepsakes and everlasting memories of their kindergarten experience.
Every child is an artist of nature,
Let's discover the colors of the world.
Prev:none
Next:Newton's Inquiry-based Theme Activities Turning Movies and Cartoons into Educational Activities
