Imaginative Art & A Walking Talking Story Part 4

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four /Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine/ Part Ten

Part Four

The children will need to know:

The names of feelings. E.g. Sad, Happy, Excited, Angry etc

The names of the seasons

The story of One Little Caterpillar By Maria Grujicic

Have explored mixing colors.

Have explored feelings and related them to the seasons, colors and shapes of the leaves.

Prepare:

A container with the leaves the children collected on the nature walk.
Glue
Pictures of children’s faces expressing different feelings for reference.
Pictures of different seasons, related to the environment you live, showing change, for reference.
The mural.
The book, One Little Caterpillar By Maria Grujicic.

Age: Adapt the activity for any age. This activity is perfect for children of all ages that are interested in nature and enjoy exploring their feelings.

Image via Wikipedia

This is a fabulous way to help children think creatively and become more involved in the story telling and creating process.

Share the leaves that the children collected from the nature walk.
Ask the children to choose one special leaf.
Ask the children why they like it.
Tell the children that today we will be gluing the leaves on the tree of our mural!
Show the children what to do, and how to glue each leaf on the tree.
Point to the branches of the tree, and slide your hands along the shape they make, and say that the branches are like hands that care for the leaves and their many feelings.
Point to the bark of the tree, and tell the children that this is like the skin that covers a person.
The children can choose where to glue the leaves, and on which branch. Guide the children to gluing the leaves so they are spread out. That way the tree can look after them all.

Looking Back:

For number2, you may do this as a separate lesson a day before the project to give time for the children to absorb the idea of why the leaf is special.
Number 3, the answers are open-ended and the question is designed to get to know the children better.
Number 6 is a metaphor that the children will understand because they have connected their own feelings to the leaves.
Don’t feel the need to label the leaves with words. The feelings attached to the leaves are not permanent. Just like people, feelings change, and give the message to the children that all feelings, like all colors are beautiful.
For number 7, the comment will help the child connect human-like qualities, and develop a love for nature and all living things.

Looking forward:

Later children will learn to express their feelings appropriately.
The children will learn that when they feel certain ways such as angry, sad, etc they are not ‘bad’, and they will develop better self-esteem. They will learn to help and care for each other’s emotions.
Note down responses that children give, in anecdotal form. This will help get to know them, and develop a closer bond!
These activities will encourage caring and friendship.

This activity is based on the story One Little Caterpillar, By Maria Grujicic

For the next step of this project, look at part five or take a look at the other parts! Follow the blog for regular updates.

Buy the book: