Dipping, Soaking & Mixing

This is an activity that originally started with something else we were doing – dipping coffee filters into watercolors for colorful bird wings. It was over quickly, though, and the kids still wanted to play in the paints so I cut up paper towel squares I use (Bounty Essentials). They played in the paint for about 1/2 hour, dipping papers in the different colored liquid watercolors, mixing paints and watching the paper soak up the paint.

This activity wasn’t intended to be art – it was all about play, what interested the kids and discovery – but it would be such a waste to throw the colorful paper.  Some had already decided what kind of picture to make with the shapes. One made a house with the papers and drew shapes all around it but I didn’t get a picture of it.  After the squares dried, we made collages. The results were very colorful, full of texture and dimension.