With our Sonlight Science curriculum, we’ve been studying various animals and their habitats and habits. We’ve spent a good deal of time looking at animals of the rain forests – and of course, rain forests themselves.  A suggested activity was to draw a rain forest with the kids.  Normally, we don’t do many of the suggested activities due to time and my lack of motivation.  But the idea of creating a wonderful art project to reinforce what we’ve learnt really appealed to me. 

Paint doesn’t come out of our craft cupboards nearly as much as it should, purely because it is MESSY and, well, messy.  But, it’s also fun and I loved painting as a kid.  Actually, I still do   So, out they came.  We mixed up three different greens, a couple of browns and blues and began to create our very own rain forest backdrop!

And we had such fun! 

The kids donned their oversized t-shirt art smocks.  We kicked the playroom carpet aside to make room for the cardboard (once an oven-box, now a bona fide rain forest!)  We brainstormed, looked at our Sonlight books and then brought out the paints. 

First the tree tops.  Dark green, then lighter green and the lightest green dotted on top.  We played “Monet” and the kids got into it big time!  The green smoodge suddenly became leaves and tree tops!  A wonderful transformation that had them oohing and aahing!

Then the trunks and branches.  Katie got fully into creating realism, and started painting moss all over the trees.  It worked!

Then the river, some logs and plenty of foliage at ground level…

Wallah!  They are so proud!  And so am I!  And I had such fun too filling in bits here and there.   

The plan is to add the animals we’ve been learning about, as well as more vegetation over the next few days.  But we’ll use different media for each animal and stick them to the board. 

Keep posted for the finished product!

ETA: I need to edit the post to explain just HOW much mess there was afterwards… the entire playroom floor, the couch throw, the carpet we’d kicked out the way, the passageway to the kitchen, the kitchen-dining room inter-leading door, the kitchen floor, the kitchen table, the kitchen sink, the passage to the bathroom and the bathroom… and US! But, it took about 20 minutes to clean up properly. Thank goodness for dishwashers which took thorough care of our paintbrushes and ice-cream-lid-palettes!   Next time, I’m using a drop cloth and plenty of newspaper.  That should turn 20 minutes into 2 minutes.

Another gem from The Beam:

Quotation

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Some years ago we had the same UPS guy for a long time. After a couple of Sonlight boxes and the kids running out to grab the box and run back inside giggling, he finally asked me, "Okay, I have to know: what are you getting in these boxes that the kids are so excited about?"

I smiled. "That would be our school books."

His mouth dropped open in surprise, "I never felt that way about MY school books!"

"Ah, that’s because you didn’t use Sonlight!"

A few weeks ago, a guy came up to me after church was over. "I think I know you."

I thought he looked vaguely familiar, but couldn’t place him.

To my surprise, he mentioned our last name….

When I nodded, he continued, "I was your UPS guy for years. I always remembered the kids being so excited to get their school books. I knew when there was a book package for you I’d be the hero of the day." (Keep in mind it’s been at least 5-6 years since he’d delivered here.)

My youngest daughter was with me and he asked her, "Your sister’s already graduated, right?" and asked my daughter if she was near graduation herself. She replied that she was a senior and that, in fact, she had an admission interview with MIT that afternoon. He didn’t seem surprised, but nodded and said, "I always knew it was a good education by the way you kids loved those books."

It really made our day! We’ve missed him and wondered what happened to him (he’s been driving UPS semis since then). And how cool is that to meet him at church too?!

— mrsmom