Pounding Colors from Nature

What will happen when you pound on fabric that is over a leaf? It’s an interesting discovery to see what happens! The Mother Goose Time curriculum includes Science Cards like this one, with directions for a science lesson. This is one of my favorite nature activities – pounding colors from nature.

It was a beautiful day so we took this activity outside. We used our garden wall for a place to pound. Each child used a plastic hammer and a piece of white fabric. I cut a white craft handkerchief in squares which worked out perfectly – each child had a small piece to work with.

We went around the yard and selected different colored leaves and pieces of plants to pound. Some released more color than others. Fall is a perfect time for pounding colors, when we see all the colors in the yard – roses, berries, changing leaves, fading flowers and new sedum.

This is a great example of hands on learning! Every child was busy and interested in what we were doing. Here’s a video so you can see learning in action:

I love this science/nature/discovery/motor skills activity! Pounding colors with @mothergoosetime #intheorchard #ece #preschool #familychildcare #hdddc #MGTblogger

A video posted by Stacy@Share&Remember (@shareandremember) on Oct 7, 2015 at 11:18am PDT

They began to realize that some plants offered more colorful results than others so they asked for “more orange” or “more red” plants. Beautiful results! Some of the parents questioned what the fabric piece was and their child was able to tell them what we did – and it was a good time to tell parents about that it’s definitely about the process, not necessarily the end product.