Paintings Of Natural Calamities

We had not been doing much hands-on work with our homelearning on Planet Earth, other than lots of reading to establish strong foundation in their scientific knowledge of earth sciences. 

So far, the Bees had read with intrigue about the broader solar system that Earth constitutes a miniscule part of, they also learned about the major components on earth (mountains, forests, deserts and oceans) and finally they were captivated by natural disasters in the forms of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. They kept asking me why they did not witness any of such disasters in Singapore, other than flooding, and I could only tell them we are very blessed! 

Mention "disasters" to Little Bee and she will tell me about hurricanes and tornadoes that she is fascinated with. She had been doodling spirals of warm hurricane clouds. Whereas Big Bee devoured a book with an amazing 100 facts about natural calamities in one fell swoop, understanding a lot more about natural forces that shaped the earth. She had also been hinting to me a few times to create a man-made volcano with her, but unfortunately, my energy levels had been languishing these few weeks, so sadly, I had been putting that off. 

Nevertheless, I encouraged the Bees to paint elements of natural disasters on some leisurely evenings, and it could be so therapeutic - not just for the Bees but also for me sitting aside and observing them swishing their painted brushes on white drawing paper. Painting such landscapes not only kept them quiet and occupied for a while, it also provided me a chance to explain in detail to them about what they painted and the intricate features of the respective disaster they drew, allowing them to absorb the knowledge deeper. 

I would usually search for a collection of paintings on their chosen topic from the internet, and will get both of them to reach a consensus on the painting they wanted to copy paint from. With pencils, they will each sketch out the outline of the painting, and with brushes, they will paint on the strokes of brilliant colours to breathe life into their art. 

I am quite happy to see both of them working on this independently, without my help, including Little Bee. Of course, she will always emulate Big Bee every step of the way - but that's what siblings are for, isn't it? 

Here were some of what they painted: 

1) Tornado landscape by Big Bee where she dabbled with different techniques and colour blends to highlight the swift whirls of the tornado, the broiling ominous thunderclouds and the eroding meadows.

2) Tornado landscape by Little Bee. She included a "giant tree" that was so powerful and resilient to the tornado, but sadly, I told her that trees are oftentimes victims of tornadoes. Emulating jie-jie, she added strokes of black to her tornado and told me solemnly that tornadoes brought lots of dust and mud to the surrounding houses. She also drew people and houses that were sucked into the tornado but did not get to paint them!

3) An erupting volcano by Little Bee, where she understood in depth about volcanic ash clouds and gushing lava flowing down volcanic slopes.