Since Autumn is in full swing, Po has noticed that while most of the trees are brown & empty of leaves, there are some that are still green- evergreens! So we’ve been learning all about evergreens and why they stay green all year.

I love to incorporate fun, hands-on projects into our unschooling, because GAWD I hated sitting still in school while grown ups talked at me for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. But I digress.

This week, we painted pinecones to look like evergreen trees after Po offhandedly mentioned that the pinecones looked like the pine trees they fell off of. (This blew my mind more than it probably should have, but they really do!) So we gathered up our pinecones and paintbrushes and began our little project. All you really need for this is pinecones, paint, brushes, a dropcloth, and your imagination. Blasting Regina Spektor on your Bluetooth speakers is technically optional, but strongly encouraged.

Paint your pinecones all over, then let them dry and add a little bit of white on the tips to give them a light dusting of snow. That’s it! Now you have a fun little prop to use when learning all about evergreens.