A Color of His Own: Chameleon Watercolor Project

We love connecting projects to books, and we're always inspired by the amazing group of bloggers who participate in the Virtual Book Club for Kids (you can also check the club out on Facebook) as the group comes up with some great extension activities each month. This month's author was Leo Lionni. We chose to read and do a project using a book we've really been enjoying lately, A Color of His Own. 

This is the sweet tale of a little chameleon who is looking for one color to stay all the time, but keeps running into that challenge that chameleons change color. In the end, he winds up finding a friend to always be with so they can at least always be the same color together. 

I've used this book in the past as a primary teacher. It's a great way to talk about friendship and also about what makes us each unique. My boys have been loving the simple tale and the colorful illustrations this spring.

For our activity extension we decided to use cray-pas and watercolors. I love how colorful this art technique can be. 

I sketched several chameleon outlines onto white drawing paper using permanent marker. (I'm including a printable copy here in case you just want to print one out, or use the printable to trace onto thicker paper.) 

Afterwards the boys and I each colored in a chameleon using the cray-pas. Big Brother and I thought about ways to create different patterns. 

Little Brother focused on just coloring his in, using mostly one color. 

After we were done coloring, we watercolored on top of the cray-pas. The watercolor doesn't stick to the cray-pas, and fills all the white spaces around it.  

We all had different strategies for painting. When they were done I cut the three chameleons out and we hung them in our play room. 

I love how they are a set but each one unique. That's part of what can also make this project a great classroom activity, especially for the start of a school year. Or turn it into a fun family project, with each family member creating a chameleon to represent themselves. 

What Leo Lionni books does your family enjoy? Have you read this one yet? 

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