Saturday 11 August 2012

Gettin' messy with the kids



So, I have now amassed a library's worth of recipes and kid activity ideas...enough to last well through this toddler stage anyway. Thank you Pinterest.  It's time to start trying and reviewing some of them.



This week we tried finger/body painting with a recipe that seemed very simple. I like that this recipe had nothing harmful in it since little people like to eat stuff, and since smearing on the body was integral to the sensory aspect of the activity. The most harmful ingredient in it was food colouring.  I can live with that. Because the kids will taste it.



Will she taste it?



Yup.

For this activity we mixed flour and water to make a paste and then added food colouring. Simple.

We found a shady spot outside, got a couple of big sheets of newsprint out and went to town!


Paper shredding was also an important aspect of this activity.

Overall I liked the results and the kids had a lot of fun.



The mixture was a little lumpy- think gravy with flour lumps in it. I suppose if I had taken a little more time and had a little more patience on my side, I could have worked with it it make it smooth. But I didn't really have time, and the children did not have the patience.



In the end it didn't matter because the kids loved it.



And when it was all over, I just composted the whole floury, lumpy mess- after taking pictures that is.

I would try this home made finger/body paint recipe again, and strive for less lumps. I would also like to try other recipes to see if the desired texture of the paint is any better and easier to achieve.



xo Jo