Colored Salt Painting: It's Art and Science!

Not long ago I was making colored salt for another activity. I had a few bags left over and decided to use them for a water color painting exploration.

Ok, so this is messy. I’m not going to say that it’s not. But, the mess is worth it. Not that kids’ art activities aren’t fine and dandy on their own. But, add in a touch of science and it makes learning extra-fun.

What can this activity teach your child and what skills does it help to build?

·        Color mixing: As the water hits the salt and the colors release, they mix and mingle – making new hues!

·        Sensory exploration: The course salt provides plenty of texture for your little artist to explore.

·        Absorption: As the salt absorbs the colors, your child can see the changes that are happening.

·        Fine motor development.

Along with these, your child’s also getting the chance to explore the artistic and scientific process. Start by making predictions. Have your child tell you what she thinks will happen when she mixes the food coloring with the salt. Later on, as she adds water to the colored salt, ask her to predict what will happen to the paper underneath. As you go through the activity, your child makes observations. Encourage her to tell you what she sees, smells, hears and feels. After the activity is over, she can tell you what happened and decide if her predictions were indeed correct (if they weren’t, ask her why or what happened that was different than her first thoughts).

Now on to the colored salt art…

Here’s What You Need:

·        Coarse salt (sea salt or kosher salt)

·        Food coloring

·        Sandwich-sized baggies (the zipper kind work best)

·        White card stock paper

·        A paintbrush

·        A cup of water

Here’s What to Do:

1.     Pour a few tablespoons of salt into a baggie. Repeat, making three or four different bags.

2.     Add one to two drops of food coloring into each baggie. Use a different color in each one.

3.     Close or zipper the bags. Shake them, mixing the food coloring and salt. Your child may need to mush the bag together with her fingers, spreading the color on through the plastic.

4.     Open the bags and let the salt dry for a few hours. You can also pour the salt onto wax paper.
 

5.     Sprinkle the salt onto the card stock paper.

6.     Drip water on top, let your child use her fingers to spread the water on or paint it on with a brush.
 

Try a few different ways of painting with the colored salt. Your child can add it to cups of water before painting it on, put water on her finger tips and then squish the salt on or come up with her own creative idea.

Are you looking for more art and science activities? Check out my Pinterest board for ideas!

 

 

Follow Mini Monets and Mommies's board Preschool Art and Science Activities on Pinterest.