Purpose:
This activity allows children to make something beautiful that can be given as a gift
while developing their powers of observation and developing vocabulary. This is a lovely project for winter solstice. It is also adaptable for such celebrations as Valentine's Day or Mother's Day by cutting out colored tissue paper hearts and using these instead of colored scraps.
Materials/Advance Preparation:
- 1/2-3/4 inch frames made of stiff paper
- white tissue paper sheets cut to fit the frames (2 each)
- colored tissue paper scraps (or tear up larger sheets into small
pieces)
- transparent tape
Directions:
- Tape
white tissue paper to the back of the frame (you may want to complete this
step in advance).
- Provide the children with the pieces of colored tissue paper
and instruct them to tape them to the white paper to make a
design. It's particularly nice when the pieces partially overlap.
- When
each child is finished, tape another piece of white tissue paper over the colored pieces.
-
Hang
the transparencies in a window so the light will shine through.
- Observe and
discuss with the children the difference in appearance in the colors when the
tissue paper is on the table and when it is hanging in the window with light
coming through. What happens when colors overlap? These
observations help strengthen their powers of observation and help them build
vocabulary, all important for developing readers. Be sure to echo their
comments back to them.
Note: Young three-year-olds may need help with the taping.
Eric Gidseg
Transparencies