February 2012 ~ Growing A Jeweled Rose

Feb 28, 2012

Easy Homemade Chocolate Finger Paint

The other day while Rosie was painting I really wanted to let Jewel join in. Being that she had recently been introduced to solids, it was the perfect time. I began looking through our food supply to see if I had any of the ingredients to make up an edible finger paint. First I looked to see if we had any pudding or yogurt, as that is what I used to let Rosie finger paint with in infancy. Finger painting with pudding or yogurt is so easy. It can be used right out of the package, or you can add food coloring and make different colors if you wish. We didn't have either.

While digging through our cupboard I came across a box of instant hot chocolate packets. It has not been cold here this Winter at all, and we hadn't even opened the box. I figured we could give it a try. It worked great!

Simple Edible Finger Paint

Making the edible paint was so simple! I added a little warm water to the chocolate mix and mixed it together really well. You only want to use a tiny bit of water or it will get too runny. I used too much water at first, so I added a little more chocolate powder.

It had a fantastic texture, as it was just slight gritty, making for even more of a sensory experience.

Once Rosie had covered her paper in the finger paint, she discovered that she could make lines in the paint to create a new piece of art.

Jewel LOVED playing in the finger paint. She spread it as far and wide as she could

Both girls also enjoyed tasting a bit here and there. The yummy paint was definitely a special treat for them.

Once Rosie tired of finger painting, I gave her a couple of her foam alphabet stampers to extend the activity. We talked about the letters as she stamped them., which was a simple activity for reinforcing her knowledge of the alphabet.

Both girls had so much fun finger painting together. Especially Jewel as she finally got to partake in the painting fun!

This was quite a tasty art experience that was all about the process. Once the girls were done playing, clean up was fairly easy as I had covered the floor with butcher paper.

This activity was a great reminder that fantastic fun can be created out of the smallest of things. I bet you can create a ton of activities using nothing more than exactly what you have on hand :)

Make Your Own GLOWING Bath Bubbles

Yesterday, I shared how we made glow water. If you missed the post on how to make glowing water, you can read all about it here. We have been having so much fun exploring and have found a TON of fun ways to use it already. The one I am most excited to share with you is glowing bath time bubble art!

After exploring with the varying colored glow waters in an array of ways, I decided to put them in our spray bottles and try painting the bubbles during Rosie's bath. ( The glow water is made from non-toxic material so I was not worried about adding it to a fun bath.. However. always use your own judgement as to what you are comfortable with for your family)

While the glow water illuminated fantastically in the bottles, I honestly was not expecting it to glow to brightly once sprayed. My thought was that the glow water would need to be more highly concentrated in order to be seen. However, I knew Rosie would have fun playing with the glowing bottles regardless of the outcome, and that we might as well experiment just to be sure.

Rosie was in awe over the glowing bottles of water. The spray bottles basically acted as VERY intense glow sticks!

Mommy was anxious to see if this experiment would work, and urged Rosie to begin spraying.

I was AMAZED with the results! I couldn't believe the sprays of glowing water glowed as intensely as they did!!

The entire tub was glowing brightly! It looked as though Rosie was bathing in glow water, and not just spritzing tiny amounts on the bubbles. The whole room was aglow!

The spray bottles themselves made fantastic submersible lights as well. Rosie loved pushing them under the water, and watching them pop back to the surface (a lesson in Science to share with Rosie when we do this again and she is a little older)

Rosie was enthralled with the glowing bottles! So much so that I am planning to make her submersible bath glow lights using the glowing water. To do that, all you would need to do is fill a clear container that can seal tightly with the glow water. So easy!

Now for some pictures of Rosie's beautiful glowing bubble spray paint art!

So fantastically MAGICAL!!!

As you can see, she painted for a LONG time! No bubble was left untouched.

Rosie had a blast making glowing bath bubbles and once bath time was over, everything washed right down the drain. The glow water did not stain the bath or skin! Go ahead, go for it :))

You can also spray paint your bath bubbles without glow water and a black light. You can read more on that here.

Glowing Water- Uses and How to Make it!

I have been doing a lot of research online in order to prepare for our upcoming group sensory play date. While thumbing through an array of Google searches, I stumbled upon GLOW WATER! I was beyond excited! We have already been having so much fun exploring with our black light, and the discovery of glow water was sure to open up a whole new world of play!

Making glow water is simple! All you need are non-toxic UV reactive highlighters or markers and water. You can find 2-packs of jumbo highlighters at Target for under $1.00. Pop the back off of the marker, and pull out the ink soaked felt that is inside. Then run the felt under a small stream of water with a bowl underneath to catch it. I used roughly 6 cups of water per highlighter, and ended up with insanely bright glow water. It could definitely be diluted further, but I wanted it to GLOW!

GLOWING Water

I found a lot of varying information while researching glow water online. One site said that only yellow highlighters can be used to make glow water and that not all yellow highlighters work. Another site said only yellow and orange highlighters can be used, and again, not all are guaranteed to work. After I made the yellow glow water, I was so in awe and made it my mission to find a way to make other colors. Given the conflicting information I was finding, I knew it was going to take a bit of trail and error.

I tried to make glow water using every other color highlighter that I had on hand, and none of them glowed. I was so disappointed, as some of the highlighters would glow in the black light when you used them to write, but then the water would not glow. However, I did not give up! I thought surely there must be another colored marker that is UV reactive, and would make UV reactive water.

I scrummaged through my adult art supplies and came across some Colorific gel markers I had bought some time ago. I tested a few of the colors under the black light, and some of them appeared to be UV reactive. So, I decided to give them a try.

I was so pleasantly surprised to discover a few of them had worked! Some colors worked better than others and some not at all, but I was just so excited that some had worked!

All together I found four glowing water colors!

This was the result of the yellow highlighter glow water!

The orange Colorific gel marker worked REALLY well! It didn't glow quite as intensely as the yellow highlighter, but almost!

And let me just tell you, the picture does not do it justice. This water GLOWS!

The green gel marker also glowed really bright!

The purple water glowed, but needed to be held close to the blacklight in order for you to see the effect.

I also tried the red and blue Colorific gel markers, but to my dismay, neither glowed. Naturally , I was hoping to find a marker that would make glow water in every color of the rainbow. However, I have four colors for now, and am still on a mission to find more!

~~~ An update from the original post: glowing activities!!~~~~

We have had so much fun with this glowing water!!!

There are so many ways this glowing water can be used during play. Here are some of our favorite ways that we have played with it:

Outer Space Glowing Bath Play

Make Your Own Glowing Chalk

Glowing Water Beads

Glowing Mad Science Lab

Amazon.com Widgets

For even more blacklight play inspiration, check out our Glowing Play Collection

Bubble Bath Spray Painting

Bubble Bath Painting Fun

Bubble bath spray painting is such a fun bath time activity. All you need for this activity is bubble bath, a few spray bottles, and liquid water colors. I purchased both the watercolors and the spray bottles used above from Discount School Supply. I highly recommend the spray bottles because they are easy pull triggers and are the right size for tiny hands. However, if you don't have Colorations liquid watercolors, you can easily make your own following this simple recipe. The colors just won't be quite as vibrant.

All I had to do for this activity was fill the bath with heaps of bubbles and grab our spray bottles of liquid water colors. Then the fun could start!

Manipulating the spray bottles is great for fine motor development

Rosie love this activity and always paints for a long time. Here, she would paint the bubbles blue and then change them by using another color. Bubbles sure do make a great canvas!

I just love how vibrant Colorations Watercolors are! The bubbles look so magical!

Note- This activity did not stain the bath or skin. However, if you are concerned I recommend testing a small portion of your own bath just to be certain. Also note, any time we have had residual coloring from a bath a spray bottle of bleach has always taken it right out.

Other fun baths we have shared:

Turn bath time into party time

Themed Sensory Baths

Glowing homemade bath paint

Also check out our bath play collection

Painting with Pine Cones

We recently made pine cone bird feeders, and had some left over pine cones. So, we decided to try painting with them! This was such a fun way to paint, and quite a sensory experience as well!

To set up this activity I poured paint into a sectioned food tray, and set out the pine cones and a piece of poster board.

This set up made it easy for Rosie to cover the pine cones in paint. She placed them in the paint, and moved the tray back and forth, easily covering them.

Rosie started out using one of the pine cones like a stamp

Then she just had to put her hands in the paint. Rosie loves sensory play, and always insists on exploring with her hands and feet.

Then Rosie began throwing the pine cones at the paper

She loved this!

This painting method ended up being a form of physical exercise and was great for large body movement.

And the texture of the paint and the pine cones together was quite fun!

So fun that in addition to painting the paper, Rosie enjoyed a little finger painting, and painted the pine cones themselves.

While Rosie enjoyed painting, Jewel enjoyed a little pine cone exploration of her own.

Of course for her, that meant tasting it!

Isn't the pine cone art fabulous? I just love how the painting turned out!

Now that is process art with a pretty ending!

Rainbow Colored Pasta Play

Yesterday, I told you all about how I had created a rainbow lunch for Rosie. We had quite a lot of rainbow colored pasta left over, and had a lot of fun playing and exploring with it later that day.

Rosie loves the texture of pasta, and we use it during sensory play quite often. We are always coming up with new ways to incorporate it into our messy play activities. I had just made Rosie a hunting for treasure sensory bin which she loved, and I thought, why not put the two together!

To do this, I simply took the left over pasta, mixed it up, and placed in in a clear plastic container. Then I took the treasure coins from Rosie's hunting for treasure sensory bin, and hid them throughout the colored pasta. It only makes sense to find lots of treasure at the bottom/end of a rainbow, right?

I set out some tongs and a scooper. At first, Rosie opted to use both!

That only lasted a moment though. Rosie just couldn't resist digging her hands into the colorful noodles.

"Look mommy, I found one!"

hunting for more

I wanted Jewel to get to partake in the fun too, so I set out a little bit of the colored pasta on a plate, and let her explore.

Closely inspecting

Jewel really loved exploring the texture of the pasta, and it was a very colorful experience for her.

Jewel did not put any of the pasta in her mouth, but was closely monitored while playing to ensure safety. Cooked pasta is a soft material so makes a great first sensory experience for baby. However, close supervision is still required. Use your own judgement as a parent, and decide whether or not you feel comfortable before letting your own baby play in this way.

Once Rosie and Jewel had both tired of playing in the rainbow pasta, I sought to use the pasta once more. I always try to extend play and utilize materials as much as possible. I asked Rosie if she wanted to paint a rainbow, and of course she said yes! Painting is one of Rosie's favorite activities!

We have painted with spaghetti several times. As I said , Rosie loves both painting and exploring with pasta, so we combine them often. I have seen this done several different ways, but was initially inspired to paint with spaghetti from this post by The Chocolate Muffin Tree. If you are unfamiliar, The Chocolate Muffin Tree is a fantastic site full of creative children's activities!

Painting with RAINBOW Pasta

I set up for this activity the same way I had set up to paint with water beads. I placed a piece of white construction paper in a shallow box. I then put each color pasta in a clear plastic cup, and added the corresponding tempera paint color to each cup. As I added the paint, Rosie and I talked about the colors.

Then she helped mix the paint into the pasta using tongs.

When we painted using the water beads, Rosie chose to dump the cups. However, this time, she decided to use her hands.

While Rosie manipulated the box some, she enjoyed slap painting with the noodles. She giggled with delight as the paint flung from the pasta.

She loved the texture of the wet noodles

squishing it

After a while, she began using the tongs to move the pasta around in the box. She has just recently gotten the hang of the tongs, and delights in picking things up with them.