The Red Session

On Thursday 4th March we explored the colour red. Red had clearly caught the children's imaginations as various people had been investigating red at home between sessions, as we'd hoped and lots of the children and adults were wearing items of red clothing. Hannah and Katriona and Vicky, Sophia and Tabitha had all been taking photos of red things they'd found around the home which we displayed on the pinboard during the session. Katriona had also found various red costumes to dress up in - a Spanish dancing dress, a devil outfit, and the very creative Blob of Ketchup.

Frances and Joe had made some red play-dough which was very popular during the session. Mandy and Amy displayed some stop-motion animation photos on the red theme, and we also admired Harrison's red mosaic-style collage and Hussein's sketches of a bus, a Ferrari and a shop all done in red pen. Lois had brought some Mr Men books in which the main character was red and Freya and Heath had been counting the things they saw which were red, Freya totaling 172 and Heath 229. Freya also sang a song she'd written on the whole rainbow:

Rainbow Song
Rainbow, rainbow, pretty in the sky,
These are what the colours mean:
Listen to me and you will see.
Red is angry and pretty,
Orange is bouncy,
And yellow is mellow,
Green is grass,
And blue is calm.
Indigo and violet are like flowers and berries,
And that's what the rainbow means to me.

Rosie read a prose poem she had written on red:

Red, the colour at sunrise like a thousand rubies glittering across the skies. Red blood oozing from a scarlet wound. Red, a maiden's rosy cheeks. Red is love, a breaking heart. Red, an apple on a tree. Red, anger and frustration building up inside. Or warmth and light. Red, the colour of fire's flame. Red, a scarlet fox's tail. Red, a royal soldier's jacket. Red, the colour of autumn leaves blowing in the autumn breeze from Mother Earth's woody trees. Red, a fawn's silky coat. Or ladybirds with painted wings. A poppy in a silent cornfield. Red, so many different things. A robin's breast as it sings. Red, a sign of danger, a sign telling you to stop. Red, a carpet for VIPs - can I have your autograph, please? Red, a fire engine saving lives. Red, a chestnut's protective shell. Or horned devils from hell. Sunset over snow-topped mountains. This is red, the colour red, anger and love, fire and warmth. Red is blood, rubies in a chest, a colour, a feeling, a robin's breast.


During the brainstorming session, we discussed what the colour red made us think of. Associations the children made included: danger, cars, poppies, lipstick, fire, wrapping paper, love, Gryffindor robes, jam, jewellery, apples, blood, the basketball hoops in the hall, the sky in the evening, the sun at sunset, mars the planet, hot, strong, powerful, fierce.

We talked about red being a colour included on many flags, maybe because it is a powerful and strong colour. And we moved on to talking about coats of arms and how these were like personal flags and also often featured red.

Yahya mentioned that he had been wondering if all cars had red back lights and why this might be. Possibly because it is an easy colour to see in the dark, and because it means stop and danger, like with traffic lights.

Not many people have red bedrooms - only Sophia and Isaac. Isaac finds it a relaxing colour, but Sophia doesn't.

After the brainstorming session, we made coats of arms, flags, mosaics, and artwork on red paper and cellophane.

The song-writing group made a start on their song.

The parachute games were very popular this week.


Dee did a survey on red and these were the results:

How Red makes me feel...

“Happy” - Eleanor
“Not good” - Danny
While snarling, “angry” - Jake
“It makes me feel inspired” - Amy
“Strong” - Hussein and Yahya
“It’s lovely” - Charlie
“Happy, but it depends what it is that is red” - Rosie
“It makes me feel hot” - Jonathan
“Makes me feel rubbish” - Nathan
“Fearsome, brave and bold” - Freya
“Happy” - Brandon
“Reminds me of the Olympics” - Isaac
“Surprised” - Lois
“Like being happy and stuff” - Heath


Red reminds me of...

“Blood” - Sebastian
“Lego” - Daragh
“Lava and a red light sabre” - Hugh
“Blood” - Joe
“London Buses” - Hussein
“Blood” - Luca.

We have also found out that a local home educating family who cannot attend the group right now are following along with our theme and have been studying birds for the red theme - cardinal birds and the scarlet macaw, as well as bullfinches, the Indonesian Red Lory, the African Red-Billed Fire Finch, and the South African Southern Red Bishop. We hope we can continue to inspire people in the community with our project.