Listening to The Crayons

Another sign of fall in our house, as in many houses across the nation, is the appearance of brand new boxes of crayons, all sharp, and begging to be used.

I was glad to find in Patricia Hubbard's My Crayons Talk, that we are not the only ones who feel that way.

A little girl hears her crayons speak.

Purple shouts, "Yum! Bubble gum."

Brown sings, "Play, Mud-pie day."

Leading very nicely for the reader to ask, "What are my crayons saying to me?"

I was curious how the children would answer. But, instead of asking them, I unrolled a sheet of butcher paper, across the floor (after moving the table, and chairs out of the way), and placed fresh, new boxes of crayons, here and there, so they could speak to the children on their own terms.

I snapped a couple of quick pictures, and then went off to fold the laundry. I've found, our crayons speak louder, when I'm not in the room.

And sadly, they had nothing to say to the older children, at all, today. The little ones, though, were quite content to lose themselves in the conversation.

For more story stretching, arts and crafts, click over to this week's stART (story + ART) link-up, at A Mommy's Adventures.

Or, click here, for a Webbing Into Literacy, preschool, printable, extension for My Crayons Talk (and many other picture books), from the University of Virginia.

It's great to be a homeschooler.