Monday, October 06, 2008

thanks in leaves

We've been working again on our 'seasonal tree'. I was trying to think of an activity that educational, seasonally appropriate and fun. Sometimes a hard task. I happened upon these amazing colour diffusing paper leaves that served the purpose beautifully. We used a variety of mediums as we experimented with the resulting leaves. We tried watercolour paints, water soluble felt pens, and watercolour pencil crayons. Spray bottles of water, wet paintbrushes and dunking the whole leaf in water. Liv had a fabulous time and worked on hers for days. While they dried, we thought of things we were thankful for (Thanksgiving is October 13th in Canada). They were as follows:Daddy
each other
friends and family
stranger friends (Thanks for the secret of the 'strike', Marissa!)
chickens
pets
our house
our garden
healthy food
warm beds
Canada
rain
rainbows


16 comments:

V said...

Jackie,

That turned out beautifully!!!! You have such a creative talent. I wish my kids could be home schooled along with yours- it seems to come so naturally to you.

Amber said...

That is so lovely....

xx

World Wide Alternative said...

Beautiful!
It was your tree that first attracted me to your blog all those months ago.
I think it's about time I copy you & get a tree on our back door I think...stay tuned! ;) XXxx

darcie said...

And Jackie - we stranger/friends/creeps/broads are thankful for you to - You have taught each and every one of us a lesson or two ~
What a beautiful tree ~ Here's to learning and growing with those adorable children of yours!

Marissa said...

here's the html code for the strike through. remove the spaces.

< strike > word you want struck < /strike >

let's see if this works! :)

Danielle said...

Oh, Jackie. This is really beautiful.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful "assignment".
I aspire to be a mom like you...you are truly amazing.

And like Darcie said, as a stranger-strikethrough-friend I am also very grateful for you and the lessons you teach me and remind me of daily.

Thank YOU!

Jill said...

Jackie,

You're awesome.

I found your blog through Matt's and have been following you for a few months.

My heart and myself are here in MN rooting for you every day.

jill

SupersammyG said...

Those leaves are great. You may want to try to separate the different pigments in grean leaves up (if you still have them up north. The paper if it is the texture of a coffee filter shoul work well. If you take a leave and mash it with water (or rubbing alcohol)to release the pigments then place a dot of the pigments on the paper and let dry, after hand the paper over a cup of water (or alcohol) and slightly dip the stem in. The water will absorb and move up the paper bringing the pigments with it. Since the different pigments have diffent molecular weights so they will separate and travel different rates up the paper. You can do this will water soluble markers to see what color pigments are in the different colors. Could be a little science lesson for you to do. If you look up chromatography of leaves. Here is a site that gives you some info
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html

I enjoy reading your blog and think of you and the kids often.

ali said...

i LOVE the tree! it looks fantastic. such an awesome idea. i, too, hope a little of your mom skills rub off on me.

((hugs))

Kate said...

That is so COOL! Wow!!

Anonymous said...

beautiful colors, beautiful thoughts.

and darcie is right - we are grateful for and enjoy learning from you - you may not recognize it but i see strength and grace in you and it is inspiring.

Anonymous said...

A great idea stored away for when my munchkin is a little older, you are such an inspiring momma!

Anonymous said...

wowwww Jackie! YOU have TALENT!
Congrats!
Have a wonderful day

Unknown said...

BEAUTIFUL leaves!!! I wish my child could live with you. He is so deprived! LOL

I think it's cute y'all are grateful for chickens. And Canada! Yay, Canada! ;-)

Anonymous said...

How beautiful, it feels amazing to feel grateful and am glad to see you take time to reflect on what you do have, because it is so very hard I know.

Here is my grateful blog

http://web.me.com/melodycharlie/My_Life/Enter_at_own_risk/Entries/2008/10/10_i_am_grateful.._thanksgiving_weekend..html

Enjoy your weekend, your time with family and friends, your time with what we do still have.

Melody