Materials
none
Instructions
1. Beforehand, cut out a large leaf shape from a piece of stiff paper or acetate.This will be your stencil.2. Read the children All the Colors of the Earth by Shelia Homanaka or anyother book that has pictures of leaves.3. Get the children's attention by spraying an empty bottle around the room.Ask them what they would spray with a bottle.4. Then show them a page in the book. Say, "I wonder how all those colors goton that page. I am going to try to spray paint on paper. Maybe that is how theillustrator got the paint to look that way. Would you like to try to spray painton some paper?"5. Put paper onto each easel and tape the leaf stencil on top of the paper. Makesure to put newspaper underneath the easels.6. Give each child a spray bottle half filled with paint. Encourage them to sprayover the leaf stencil. (You may have to help them work the sprayer at first.)7. As the children finish, ask them how they liked painting with a sprayer insteadof a brush. Ask them to think of any other ways to paint a picture.8. This activity helps children use fine and gross motor muscles while painting. Italso helps them to become more aware of different colors.More to doUse a different color of paint or size of spray bottle. You can even change theshape of the leaf to show how leaves are different.