This blog post is a part of a three-month series: Montessori Art in the Natural World: Kids Nature Journal Color Lessons. This series is about growing kids’ knowledge about the natural world by taking them outside their home or classroom and challenging them to create focused art, based on the nature around them. Every aspect of nature—seasons, layers of the earth’s soil, energy, rocks and minerals, fossils, landforms, water, flora, fauna, the atmosphere—can all be represented and expressed through art lessons.
Nature Journaling – Part lll
One of the most relaxing and rewarding parts of being in nature is experiencing its colors and beauty. Nature can teach us a lot about the color theory aspects of art and nature journaling, in particular, is a great way to teach Montessori art lessons.
As an artist, art teacher, and naturalist, I find color so fascinating! Color inspires kids to gain new knowledge about the natural world. Nature journaling can be an amazing tool to lead outdoor exploration and discovery. Having your kids take their nature journals outdoors can enrich their learning experience and help them make a meaningful connection between science and art.
Kids nature journaling activities give educators many chances to teach the Elements and Principles of Design while integrating science methods, such as observation. You can actually teach multiple Montessori color lessons using just the basic nature journal materials, a guided outdoor activity, and engaging your students’ imaginations.
Color in Art & Science
Color theory is a foundational area of visual arts studies. Understanding color and color theory is essential to developing art skills. All artists must learn how different colors complement each other; part of this means understanding the principles of the color wheel and creating mixtures of color values and intensities of different hues.
Beyond being an important part of art, color also plays a significant role in science! Did you know that Sir Isaac Newton not only discovered gravity, but he also observed how light bends as it passes through the prism—which was the first step in giving us what we now know as “ROY G BIV!” So, teaching kids about color is both artistically and scientifically important.
[For more details on creating an art journal and its benefits, read: Montessori Art in the Natural World: Kids Art Journaling, Part I]
Journals to Teach Color
Color theory lessons can be easily integrated into nature journaling. Nature journals offer kids the opportunity to investigate and observe color while recording their nature and outdoor observations.
When they’re completing their nature journals, have students describe the colors they observe with written words, and also by choosing specific color mediums (such as crayons, colored pencils, and/or paint) to represent the objects they see. For instance, they might doodle leaves, tree bark, ponds, or the atmosphere, and then assign these observation notes with descriptive color words.
Examples:
- “The tree had small, bright green leaves growing.”
- “The bark on the tree had a cool feeling and looked dark brown.”
- “A bird with reddish feathers flew by.”
Where to Start: Simple Nature Journal Color Prompts
It can be overwhelming to think about taking your class outside for an art lesson. Maybe the idea of rounding up your students and keeping them focused on lessons outside the classroom—when all they want to do is climb a tree or jump on fallen leaves—stresses you out. I get it and I’ve been there! Kids have minds of their own and once they’re outdoors, their playful instincts tend to take over. However, getting them to focus on Montessori color lessons can be done.
Keeping young students’ attention comes down to giving them something specific to focus on while they’re outside. Color can be found in outdoor environments in all different shades, hues, and tones:
- The colors of a rainbow (ROY G BIV)
- The natural pigments found in flowers and minerals
- The iridescent colors of a butterfly wing
- The color differences in males and females of a species
- The green tones in different types of tree leaves
Color even plays a role in the survival of particular organisms in certain biomes! There are amazing teaching opportunities to point out how color is represented in the natural environment and different ecosystems. These kinds of observations can lead to fun and insightful scientific discussions in your classroom! Observing nature and recording natural color values are great ways to integrate science and art.
Color Lesson Ideas
- Warm and cool colors
- Colors in plants
- Colors of wildflowers
- Colors in different species
- Colored chemicals
- Wavelengths of light
- Pigments in rocks and minerals
- Color adaptation in different species
- How chlorophyll makes plants appear green
- What causes the sky to appear blue
[To learn more about how to get your students started with a kids nature journal, read: Montessori Art in the Natural World: How to Teach Nature Journaling, Nature Journaling Part II]
One Step Further:
Using the prompts above will help give your students focus and purpose while they’re outdoors. While I focused on the importance of including color observations when students are recording in their nature journals, to make it a true scientific activity, students should include other datum and information as well.
This Outdoor Journal Checklist will help you guide your students and keep them on track to make sure they’re implementing both scientific and artistic principles during their expedition. You can print it out or save it on your phone so you have it with you the next time you lead your students outside to journal.
A Short Cut Just for You
I think nature journaling is the perfect way to introduce art to Montessori students, since it relies so heavily on natural and scientific observations. It opens to the door for so many more interesting art projects!
If you know that you want to bring art into your classroom but aren’t sure how to do it, check out my Theming Art & The Natural World
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