invisible pictures

 One morning, I handed a small group of toddlers a white crayon each. We talked about the color of the crayon and the color of the paper in front of us. When the kiddos eagerly got to drawing, they stopped abruptly with confusion on their faces.

"Mine is broken!" 

"It doesn't work!"

"I need a new one!"

I explained that their crayons did indeed work and that they were drawing invisible pictures that would show up once we added watercolor to the mix. When presented with the idea of water color, you can bet the crayons were immediately abandoned as the kiddos clamored for paint. After a little coaxing, and demonstrating how they could feel the wax on their paper, one of the three-year-olds told me she could see the crayon. That's all it took as the rest of the small group got to squinting at their papers.

 

Much scribbling was done and then liquid watercolors were passed out. 

 

 

 

 

I love the magic of children when they paint.

dip-idy doo dah

 Back when we did our watercolor and painter's tape pictures, we found we had quite a bit of liquid watercolor left over in our repurposed applesauce cups. So as not to let it go to waste, I remembered that just that morning, I repinned a most nifty pin. I grabbed a handful of paper towels and folded them up into triangles for the little painters who wanted to continue arting it up and demonstrated that it was totally okay to dip their little triangles into the leftover paint. 

They had a blast dipping away it was all I could do to wrangle them up for outside play time.

**here is the original source that the Land of Nod linked up to.

in the classroom: watercolor and painter's tape

 Working with a group of two year-olds and just-turned threes, I passed out paintbrushes, paper and oodles of strips of blue painter's tape. Some of the tape was torn short and squat while other strips were longer and divided in half lengthwise. I sticky-stuck them all around the edges of the table so the children could choose which strips they wanted. Some used a lot of tape, some used a little. Some added and removed as they painted, some asked for specific lengths and widths. 

 

 

After the tape hit the paper, the liquid watercolor orders were placed. I began with limiting the painting to two colors adding a third or fourth when requested. My favorite part was watching the manner in which each child took to the project. Some painted far away from the tape shapes, a few filled their paper with color, one young one painted their lines in between the tape pieces, while another took to the project with a paintbrush in each hand.

 

Once the children were ready, they each removed the tape themselves revealing the bits of patchy white squares underneath. 

All sorts of lovely turned up. One project through six different pairs of eyes. Ain't paint grand?

Fun with ice...or snow!

 For those of you in the middle of the summer heat, you can do this project easily with a store bought block of ice or your own homemade block. I used a frozen juice can. Those of you with access to snow, I say get yourself a bowl-full and let your wee ones have a go at it!

What you need:

*block of ice, store bought or homemade

*a cup of salt

*liquid water color or watered down food color

*containers for your "paint" (i used disposable ice cream cups from a local scoop shop)

*sponges and/or paint brushes, eye droppers

*a tray with edges (like a cookie sheet with sides)

*squirt bottle(s)

*paper towels or clean scrap rags

scrumdilly-do it!

This is super easy, super delightful, wet, messy and scientific to boot! Place a paper towel or rag on top of your tray/cookie sheet. Add you ice block and get ready for some fun! The rag/towel will keep the ice from scooting all over the place. You can of course do this project outside. A kiddie pool would probably be a blast for your wee ones. If using snow you can pile up your mound on the tray or keep it in your bowl, it is up to you.

 

Set out your supplies and let your kidlets have a go. Paints should be in accessable cups. Add some paint and salt to a squirt bottle for variety. Adding salt to the top first, then brushing all around your ice with some salt water will help speed the melting process along. The salt will also create cracks in the ice which will hold the paint color for a little while. It looks mighty nifty!


Ice droppers would be awesome for snow. A sponge brush works best with the ice as well as a squirt bottle. I add all the different elements so that I can ask the kidlets questions. "What do you thing will happen if we squirt the ice with a stream of water? What if we used a mist? Which brush will help melt the ice faster? What would happen if we added salt to the paint first? What if we used hot water?"

 

If the block gets too muddled with color, pour some clear water on it and have your wee ones start all over again! I did this when my three your old friend came over to play. We took it outside for some more exploring.



He spent the rest of the day checking every half hour or so to see if it had melted yet. Make sure to say things like "Hey! What kind of science are you doing? Are you a scientist? Why is the ice melting? How long do you think it will take to melt to nothing?" All in all let your kidlets explore and have fun. If your wee ones are too small or you don't have any color on hand, hand them some sponge brushes and a bowl of water and let them paint the sidewalk. Tell them they are observing the act of melting at work! Most of all...have fun!

Coming up, summer fun with chalk!