Nature colors each day brightly, almost in recognition of the vibrant energy of kids and school. Today, we did some fun activities with the color orange.
Orange as an orange, or maybe a carrot? While there is knock, knock joke about oranges (and bananas) there are lots of books about carrots. What animal loves carrots? A bunny rabbit does. Bugs Bunny can never have enough so he builds a carrot machine and the story is told in the Little Golden Book, Bugs Bunny’s Carrot Machine.
You may be able to find a copy to read to your child. If not, you can just make up a story about a rabbit building a machine that makes carrots. Bugs Bunny’s first carrots are green, but he figures out to have orange carrots he needs to put in orange ingredients. Elmer helps with some marmalade. Hmm, I wonder if he put in some grapes if he would get purple carrots. Would a tomato make a red one?
After reading or telling the story, kids can use blocks or other toys to build their own machines. The recycling basket at your house could also have some materials kids can use to make their own machine, like empty cereal boxes, paper tubes, tissue boxes, and other items.
Will it be a machine for orange carrots, red apples, or yellow bananas? Maybe your child’s machine will make green or purple grapes or colors that are all mixed up. Vegetables and fruits do come in different colors that we don’t often see, like purple potatoes and carrots.
Imagination is also an ingredient in this carrot–or maybe that should be color–machine. If kids use recycled items, they can also get out their pants and crayons for more color fun. How does a purple carrot taste? What else will this machine do?