Now that the weather has warmed up, my daughter and I have been taking more walks. To make a recent walk more fun, I suggested we go on a visual treasure hunt. I asked my daughter to pick a color, handed her a sketchbook and pencil, grabbed my camera and we were off to look high and low for things of her chosen color: red. Since red draws attention and is used often as a danger sign, I wondered if we'd see many examples of red along the way. We did.
On our way out the door, she noticed for the first time that the stitching on our broom had several strands of red running through the straw. She wrote it down and photographed it. Opened the door and there was a red stop sign (we live on a corner). I could see her getting into it after she quickly had two objects on her list. She then decided to change her list to, "Things of interest in the color red", because she wasn't sure everything red should make the cut. After an hour of meandering down alleys and side streets, her list was satisfying and full of discoveries, ready to investigate (what type of bush is bright red?) and recreate through colorful drawings.
This is what we did next: I made a grid for her with a series of squares and she drew her favorite objects from her sketchbook list on good quality paper. Using natural colored pencils and watercolors, the collage of red objects unfolded.
This is a fun excercise that we've also done in the grocery store together. It makes what can feel boring to a kid active and fun. Who knew there were so many pink foods in the grocery store?
"If one says 'Red' – the name of color – and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different." -- Josef Albers
