looking for SIMPLE 3 sequential fading led's circuit

[CABBAGE]

As a beginner I'm trying to find a link to or schematic for 3 led's that fade sequentially probably using a 555 and/or a 4017 for a simple project I'm trying to do with my son who wants to be an electrician. First I have to learn it then I teach him, it's a good setup because I get to learn something as well. Can anyone here provide me with a link or schematic for this circuit? I/we started with Livewire as a simulator then progressed to breadboards now we are trying to move on to completed PCB's to light the base of a resin cast. I'm looking for small and compact simple design, I'm not at a point where I can design myself so I thought reaching out was my best bet. my son has special needs and sharing this with him means the world as well as seeing his abilities increase is just amazing. if anyone can provide me with a circuit (or link to one, for beginners) that we can mock up on a breadboard and eventually create would be greatly appreciated, thanks to whomever can.

 

[Harald Kapp]

I guess you're looking for a LED CHASER.
Using this search term you'll find heaps of circuits with different complexity. Here's one particularly simple circuit.

 

[CABBAGE]

Thanks but not quite the answer I was looking for, I need a circuit with 3 led's that fade on/off one after another Ideally a fourth that stays on constantly, at 3-6 volts. If anyone can provide me this circuit I would greatly appreciate it. being a beginner, again I cannot design this circuit yet

 

[Harald Kapp]

How about this one? You can leave out the leftmost stage to get a 3 LED circuit. Connect the cathode of the fourth LED directly to ground instead to have it on permanently.
The timing of the circuit can be tweaked by changing component values.
You'll need an additional clock generator e.g. based on a 555 astable multivibrator (as indicated in the video's schematic to the right).

The 'modern' way of doing this is a small microcontroller with a piece of software, but that requires hardware and software design.

 

[CABBAGE]

Thanks Mr. Kapp that is the closest I've come so far to what I'm looking for, I appreciate your time for a newbie like me. I did manage to add the 555 timer and make it work by putting a capacitor and two resistors in one of the lines, it worked well in my simulator now I'll try the breadboard if that works I'll try building it. Thanks again.