Preschool Picture Book & Art - Birds and Feather Painting

I'm starting a new series on my blog called Preschool Picture Books & Art. Each week I'm going to do a craft with Zeke based on picture books. I know this isn't a unique series, but I do want to do some fun activities with him over the summer, especially before the baby comes in September/October! 

This week our book is Birds by Kevin Henkles. This is actually one of my favorite picture books of all time. I would definitely consider this a true living book under Charlotte Mason's definitions. It presents factual information in such a fun and beautiful way. Zeke loves to be read this book. 

I even did a week-long study on this book with him when he was not even two. The study is in my Etsy shop as a digital download if you're interested! 

The page in the book that inspired this painting activity was this one:

"If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew, think what the sky would look like."

I took four feathers (just the first four colors I grabbed from our bag) and matching paint. We talked about how the feathers could have made streaks and squiggles in the sky. Then I showed him to how to take the feathers, dip them in the matching paint, and make lines in the sky. 

At first he was making lines and streaks on his paper. Then he decided to paint 'water' with the purple. 

Next he added a yellow rainbow above the water.

Then he put some orange fish by the water.

Next he added green birds to the sky.

It wasn't exactly how I pictured the final product, but I was so proud of his creativity! He loved every minute of it. I enjoyed listening to his narrations of what he was painting with each color. I didn't prompt him or give him suggestions. Plus - it's always fun to paint with something other than a paintbrush!

Have you read this book?