Watercolor Story - The Sunbeam's Visit

The following story is a beautiful story to tell while watercolor painting that is taken from my March 5 Day Childcare Guide. You can create the same scene as the story describes with all of the colors of the rainbow.

The Sunbeam’s Visit

~by Cornelia Fulton Crary



One day, as the glorious sun came up to bid the world "Good morning," one beam of light came out with all the rest, and went to give its part of rightness to the people of the world. In this beam of light were six little rays; but they all had on white cloaks, and they went along so close together that they looked like one clear, white ray.



It was early in the morning, and as the beam of light went on its way straight from the sun, to take its message of love and brightness to the world just as well and quickly as it could, it went through between two of the slits of the blind in the window of the room where little Johnny was snugly tucked in bed fast asleep; and it shone right on the top of a glass inkstand which Johnny's mother kept on the table. As the beam of light went through the sharp edges of the clear glass, all the little rays took off their white cloaks, and went and stood hand in hand in a streak of colors on the white ceiling.



Each one of the six rays that made the beam of light was a different color. Three of them were strong, and able to take care of their little brothers and help them to be bright as they were, just as little children who are bright and happy help others to be bright and happy too. These three strong rays were red and yellow and blue.



The red and the yellow rays had between them another ray who held tight to both of them, and the red and the yellow ray each gave him some of their brightness; so he was an orange ray.



And the yellow and the blue had fast hold of the little green ray which was between them, sharing the brightness of the yellow and the coolness of the blue ray, and very happy and bright himself while he was standing close to them.



Then at the end of the line, close to the blue, stood another ray. He was something like the red ray at the other end of the line, who gave him some of his red glow; but he was more like the blue, because he stood close to him and shared his color, which, mixed with the red, made him a purple ray.



So there they stood, the red and the orange, the yellow and the green, the blue and the purple rays, holding each other's hands and looking at Johnny.



And all this didn't take as long to happen as it takes to tell about it; for as they looked at him, Johnny felt their brightness against his eyelids, and opened his eyes to see what it was, and said: "Why, there is the light; it must be morning." So he got up right away, and washed his face and hands very clean, and dressed, so he would not be late to breakfast. He opened the blinds to let more of the sunshine in, and then the six little rays ran back through the glass and put on their white cloaks again, and went with all the other beams of light to make the day bright. And Johnny stood before the window and said "Good morning" to the sun, which had sent the beam of light to visit him and make him glad.