Noah's Ark

What a nice segue... from weaving the rainbow to painting the rainbow.

Last week in Sunday School we reviewed the story of Creation and I explained our 1st quarter service project. There was some confusion among the children as to whether adopting a baby gorilla meant that we were actually taking it away from its mother, so I will have to print some information from The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund website to take in.

This next week we are reviewing the story of Noah's Ark. Last year, which focused on the first part of the OT, I spent 8 weeks painting Creation (see the watercolor painting DVD by Kelly Morrow for more help on this) and then we created our own Ark using the book Noah's Ark in Paper and Card by Charlotte Gerlings and the children made beeswax figures for it. This year I will have us paint the rainbow since, as the story goes, the first rainbow ever in existence appeared after the Flood had diminished, as God's sign that He would never again destroy the earth. It is a symbol of His love. I found wonderful step-by-step directions for painting the rainbow in a book distributed by Marsha Johnson of Shining Star Waldorf School. Contact her through her Yahoo Group to get a copy. (By the way, here is a wonderful "master list" of Waldorf-related Yahoo Groups, a brief explanation of the function of each, as well as how long ago they were started and approximately how many members belong. This is a great resource when you're trying to find the group that fits your needs.)
The painting book by Rauld Russell is called "How to Do Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Painting and Teach It to Children" and it is just that! An intense explanation of how to experience each of the colors individually, exercises in combining them, as well as the watercolor painting curriculum for grades preK through 8. Yellow is Lesson 1. The Rainbow is Lesson 2.