As part of my preschool lessons I introduce "colors" to the children. I do not do a color of the day or discuss more than one color at a time. I teach "color of the week". I start with the primary colors, then go on to the secondary and so on. Each color is discussed in detail in all of the academic areas. We also wear the color of the week on Friday. And each day the children are encouraged to bring something with that color from home. Well, I thought the subject of colors would make some great prompts. I hope these prompts will add some "color" to your journaling experience!
Some traditional prompts (relating to color ) that have been used by many are:
What is your favorite color?
If you were a color, which one would you be and why?
What is your favorite NEW Crayola brand crayon color?
Describe the colors in your house, such as your living room decor, bedroom, etc.
What is the color of your hair and eyes?
But let's take this color prompt a little deeper. Let's begin with the primary colors...
What "emotion(s)" do you feel when you see the color RED? BLUE? YELLOW?
How does the colors mentioned cause you to react? For instance, ADhD children are overstimulated by the color red.
Red is a hot color, Blue is a cold color, and Yellow is a bright color. When you see these colors how do you respond to them? (Sometimes I write with the color red when I am angry; the color blue when I am sad, and the color pink when I am "tickled pink" about something.)
Now substitute the other colors and answer the prompts with them.
When I discuss the secondary colors I also show the children what primary colors are needed to make them. As a creative art activity we draw with the color(s) we have been discussing. I also encourage them to use the color in their journals somehow, such as writing letters in those colors etc. Here is some creative art activities for you to enjoy as you journal:
Decide to do use one color of ink in your journal that day. (You can even change the font color if you journal on the computer.)
Design a border with that color.
Create a bookmarker with the color you have chosen.
Draw pictures inspired by that color.
Use the color as a background to your page.
Color/write lightly when you are in a playful mood or color/write pressing down hard with a crayon to show anger.
Use the color of the day and draw shapes to represent your mood on your page (black circles could represent being in the black hole of depression; red hearts could represent being in love, etc.)
This will be a good way to celebrate colors beyond your journaling...
Wear the color of the day. Record how you felt at the day's end wearing that color. (Yellow colors would make me feel happy.)
Observe your surroundings, your environment, your world and take note of all the things you noticed that had the color of the day.
List the many items that is in your house that has the color of the day.
Think about that color and how it effects you during the morning, during midday, and at the evening? Does it effect you the same no matter what your attitude/mood is?
Discuss hue, tint, shade, and color scheme in your writing and how it can relate to what you are recording that day. Use them as descriptive words to your posts. Such as, there was a tint of pink in the horizon as I sat on my deck drinking hot tea...
Now to further your imagination...
Think about the color of the day and imagine that color in the different areas of your house. How does it change your perspective of things? Such as, if your kitchen is now a shade of green and you imagined it to be yellow, how would it change things for you? Do this activity each day and see how it effects your feelings, your moods, your attitudes, etc.
Most of us have one special area that is set aside for our journaling moments. Imagine that your table is painted the color of the day. Would it effect how or what you write? Would it inspire you differently if your table was a new color each day or would it restrict your writing?
My students learn songs that relate to the color of the week. One special song we sing each week is Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, Red and yellow, black and white, Jesus loves the little children of the world. We discuss how people are the same and different. We all have eyes, hair, etc. but our eye and hair color is different than a friend's, etc. The different ways we are unique. And how we all do not have the same skin tone. We discuss nationality, ethnic groups, and prejudism.
As a prompt, you could research different songs that mention colors. You could read books about different colors and write what you learned from the story. (An example for my lesson plan would be Little Red Hen and then we discuss sharing and teamwork and selfishness, etc.)
The order I introduce the colors is red, blue, yellow, purple, green, orange, black, brown, gray, white, and pink. Can you believe that my students get upset when I quit adding color to our lessons of the week? So, then we discuss the rainbow. This adds many more weeks to our learning experiences. You could do so many more prompts just discussing things relating to the rainbow. Examples: God uses the rainbow as a symbol of promise. What are some of God's promises you can claim today? If you could find the end of the rainbow, what would you expect to be there? And so on...
This is some of the ways that you, too, can use "color" to prompt your writing. May you never find "dullness" to your writing. May color add life to your journaling experience.
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