Go for a walk with your children, and gather a variety of sturdy leaves. Simply lay out some paper, hold the leaf still with one hand, and paint outwards from the center of the leaf with the other hand. Move the leaf to another part of the paper and repeat, or try a different leaf. For younger children, it may be helpful for you to temporarily stick a green leaf onto paper with a little water, or you could help them hold the leaf on the paper as they paint.
Soft plant stalk like mullein, yucca (pictured here), iris, cattail stem, etc.
Note: The Native Americans of the Southwest used to chew the ends of yucca stalks to make paintbrushes and also use a single fiber to paint fine details on pottery.
For Leaf Prints:
Other Fun Uses:
White, cotton fabric (old sheet, t-shirt)
White glue (natural, eco glue is also available online)
Poster board (optional)
NOTE: Do not wash.
Variations: Make into pillow by stitching another piece of cotton back; leave one side open and stuff with fabric scraps or cattail fluff. Stitch closed.
Flour, Iodized Salt, Children's Earth Paints.
Mix 2 cups flour & ½ cup iodized salt. In separate bowl mix 1 cup warm water w/ 1 Tbsp. of dry Children's Earth Paint. Mix paint into dry mix and then knead for 5- 10 min. until color is uniform throughout dough. Keep sprinkling in flour until it’s not sticky.
If kept covered or in sealed container/ bag it will stay nice and workable for several weeks. Or bake at 300 degrees until hard.
We think soil horizons are really cool, and we think you’ll like them, too. The next time your family is driving through an area with steep, eroded hillsides beside the highway, watch for multi-colored soil banks. Sometimes there are four or five different colors showing, and the most beautiful examples look like a sunrise or sunset. These layers of soil illustrate a stratum of history far older than our lives, and we love the perspective soil horizons lend us.
Children's Natural Earth Paints make great Easter egg paints. Either hard boil them first or make blown eggs. If you make blown eggs you can hang them from a tree branch with twine for a beautiful and natural mobile.
To make blown eggs: Simply tap each end of an egg with a sharp knife until a small hole appears and blow the egg out (pretty forcefully). Then pour in a little water, swish around and blow that out as well. Prop your egg on a piece of play dough (recipe above) to paint.
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