Art & Literature - The Rainbow Fish

Ok, so this pick of a book and art project is a little obvious, but still worth sharing. The Rainbow Fish is beautifully illustrated with watercolor pictures and one of my favorites to read with the girls because of the pretty pictures. No brainer for a pick to pair with an art project!

There are probably better art projects you could use with this book, but I was trying to use what we already had on hand and this is what we came up with:

First, I traced the Rainbow Fish onto some heavy cardstock and the girls painted him using their watercolors.

We've got some serious concentration going on here

Until mama says, "Caroline, smile!" and we get the closed eye cheesy grin.

We added his scales using some glittery letters that I had cut up into small pieces, while we discussed what the girls would have done if they were the Rainbow Fish.

Of course Anna Cate quickly responded how she would have shared her beautiful scales with all of the other fish, while Caroline stubbornly insisted that she would have chosen not to share.

After a lengthy discussion on hurt feelings, sharing, and being a good friend, she could not be persuaded. The verdict remained the same: sorry to the other fish, but Caroline was keeping all she had to herself.

As for myself, I had to make a mental note to work harder with her on that necessary life skill with that little nut that is so hard to crack!

via

These fish cupcakes have been in my file for forever and would have been perfect for this lesson as a follow-up snack, but I didn't have any M&M's and wasn't feeling particularly ambitious that morning.

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As a side note, this picture was snapped on the same morning we made our fish. I was so excited that her hair was starting to get fuller and longer...so pretty! :) But it wasn't to last long...

Remember how I shared her newly acquired skill of the ever-s0-popular big girl tool of scissors??

She found a pair one night,

IN Anna Cate's room,

IN her book-bag

which was IN her closet...

and snip snip...

goodbye to the right side of Caroline's lengthening locks.

Oh this child! She definitely keeps me on my toes!