Crayon Resist Letter O

To practice writing the letter Oo, we drew some on our papers to watercolor.  

I drew some sample letter o's for them to look at as they attempted to draw their own.

We used lots of different colored oil pastels.  I realized it had been a while since we used the watercolors and we needed some instruction.

In the past, it was age appropriate for me to just use a spray bottle and spray water onto the paints for the kids as the water ran out.  The group I have now is capable of using a small cup of water without causing disaster.  (I know, water clearly does NOT cause disaster, but I'm a little bit of an organization freak.) 

They learned how to mix the water into the paint to make it work.

Most of them just painted the inside of their o's.  The goal of a crayon resist is for them to see how the crayon POPS when they paint over it.  

Only one child asked me how it does that.  "Because the crayon is made of wax, and wax is waterproof."  (Long silent stare... I guess she was letting that sink in.)

I like that this project requires steps.  They must apply water, mix and then apply that to the paper.  It takes some thought, therefore, took some time. 

I love the results!

Of course, I think they are all geniuses.

Today is the first day of Spring!  We have been counting down for a couple of weeks now.  Right on cue-- Washington Spring presents us with cloudy rain.

The kids repeated my own words back to me this morning when they heard me whining,"Rain rain go away."  "But you said the garden NEEDS the rain so it can be happy."  "Ducks like the rain." 

 Kids listen to EVERYTHING. 

♥♥♥Happy Friday!  Happy Spring!♥♥♥