Our #easyplayidea series continues today with some multi-step process art. I've done this art activity a few times with preschoolers but not with my own children. Salt painting is simple to do and another great way to explore how different colours are made much like our #easyplayidea from yesterday.
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To set up this activity you will need -
- white PVA glue
- white cardstock or we used old transparency sheets (leftover laminating sheets would also work)
- salt
- food colouring or liquid watercolours
- fine brushes
Simply decide what you're going to write or draw. It might be quite abstract, some scribble lines perhaps but mine all decided to write their names. We got a little fancy at this point by printing out their names in their chosen font using Word to trace over with the glue.
Once you're finished with the glue, cover it with a layer of salt. Give it a slight sideways shake to make sure all of the glue is covered then tip off the excess.
Grab a fine brush, dip it in colour and then just touch your brush to the salt line. Don't press down and try to paint along the line. The paint will move through the salt by itself and where two different colours meet, a new colour will form. We were using up our paint left over from yesterday's activity so we only used red, blue and yellow.
The process of how the liquid colour moves through the salt is quite mesmerizing for all ages. Being a natural desiccant, salt absorbs the liquid in the paint which is why it spreads further than where your paint brush touches the line. I love when science overlaps art!
Look at all the lovely new colours!
You can read our other #easyplayidea posts - one, two, three, four, five and six and you can also check out the hashtag #easyplayidea on Instagram for more ideas to promote play in your house these holidays.