Materials:
Pinecones
Tempera paint in pastel shades
Fine bristle paintbrushes
Newsprint to protect the table
Directions: Our class took a walk around the campus, collecting pinecones as we went. We brought our collection back to the classroom and set them out to dry in a basket for a day or so. We placed sheets of newsprint on the table and set out cups of pastel paint and paintbrushes (the kind that come in kids’ watercolor paint sets). Pastel shades of pink, green, yellow, purple, and orange were available. The children were encouraged to paint their pinecones using all or as many of the colors as they wished. They did not have to paint every scale of the pinecone—just enough until they were satisfied with their work. This project encouraged the children to focus on painting a small surface (the scales) and exercising the eye-hand coordination necessary to put the paint where they wanted it to go!
When the paint dried, the pinecones made a unique display in our classroom, hanging with twine from a specially selected stick!