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Paint You Can See…Smell…and Feel!

January 21, 2010 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience Leave a Comment

 

If you’d like to incorporate a few more senses into your painting projects, add some regular salt generously to your tempera paint and use as fingerpaint or with a brush.  The resulting project will have a bit more texture and grit that becomes even more visible as it dries.  Use side by side with “regular” paint for a great texture comparison.  This will spark interest as well as encourage the use of new vocabulary words like bumpy, gritty, sandy, smooth, etc.  (If you’re not fingerpainting, you might want to use your older brushes for this one, as the salt tends to get into the bristles a bit.)

The next day you can add another sense to the activity as you make your paint scented!  Just add a packet of Kool-Aid to the container of paint!  I actually added to the salty paint I had left over for a combined experience.  (Do be cautious, as the Kool-Aid seems to make the paint a bit frothy.  It can overflow, albeit slowly!)  The Kool-Aid adds a fruity scent while also intensifying the colors (which may also affect the washability, depending on the product).

Making your art activities multi-sensory makes them more appealing, while also enhancing the senses and building language skills as the children are bound to talk about the differences they’ve observed!  Painting in general also builds creativity and fine motor control and strength.

So try something new with paint you can see, smell, and feel….I suppose you could also add hear if you add some music….though I wouldn’t recommend tasting, at least not with this salty Kool-Aid concoction!

More from the “Exploring the Arts through Our Senses” unit here!

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Comments

  1. 1

    Deborah Stewart says

    January 21, 2010 at 9:51 am

    Awesome idea – I love how you are bringing in the senses.

    Reply
    • 2

      notjustcute says

      January 21, 2010 at 10:32 am

      Thanks, Deborah!

      Reply
  2. 3

    Michelle says

    January 21, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    What a great idea!! I love it and can’t wait to try it. We will be doing a snowy picture and I think that adding the salt would be great!! Thanks for the ideas!!

    Reply
    • 4

      notjustcute says

      January 21, 2010 at 2:30 pm

      Thanks, Michelle! Salty Paint would be great for snowy pictures! Checkout more snow painting ideas at this post: https://notjustcute.com/2010/01/01/a-brainstorm-of-snowstorm-painting-projects/
      Happy Painting! 🙂

      Reply

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I’m Amanda Morgan. Here’s what I’m about…

In early education, there is too much distance between what we know and what we do. I bridge the gaps that exist between academia, decision-makers, educators, and parents so that together, we can improve the quality of early education while also respecting and protecting the childhood experience.

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