angeldelight
14-01-2008, 03:56 PM
There are numerous fun activities to do with preschoolers using food coloring. Food coloring is inexpensive, and most of the other supplies you need for these activities you will already have in your house. So grab some food coloring, put on some old clothes, and get ready for colorful fun with your child / children.
Color Mixing.
Food coloring is a great way to teach your child about the primary and secondary colors and how the primary colors mix together to create the secondary colors. Fill some clear glasses or plastic cups with water. Have your child place a drop of each of the primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) in three cups. Watching the colors swirl throughout the water is an activity by itself! Once the colors have dispersed throughout the water, add a drop of another color and see what happens. When you add yellow to red, you get orange! When you add red to blue, you get purple. And when you add blue to yellow you end up with green. Now you have the secondary colors: green, orange, and purple. You can allow your child to experiment by adding more drops, or mixing all of the drops together, to see what colors they can come up with.
Color Dispersion.
In a shallow bowl, pour in some milk and about five drops of dawn dish detergent. Next, give your child a bottle of food coloring and let him or her add drops one at a time to the milk mixture. When the food coloring hits the milk, the colors will shoot across the bowl in a circular fashion. The effect created is very visually stimulating for all ages.
Snow Paint. When you have snow on the ground outside, extend the fun in the snow by making some snow paints. Using any type of squirt bottles, fill them with water and a small amount of food coloring. You child can then use the squirt bottles to "paint" on the snow outside. When the snow melts, the colors will disappear.
Shaving Cream Bags.
Using clear zippered top bags, fill two or three with just enough shaving cream that they will still shut easily. Let you child add drops of food coloring to the bags, seal them tightly, and then squish! Your child will love the feeling of squishing the shaving cream all around inside the bag. As the food coloring is moved around it will dye the shaving cream. You can also make this activity a color mixing project by adding more than one color drop to the bags. If you're really brave, you can even do this activity without the bags, filling a cookie sheet with shaving cream for your child to run his hands through and disperse the food coloring.
Glue Creature
Using basic white school glue, let your child squirt out a few shapes onto waxed paper. Once the glue is on the waxed paper, add a drop of food coloring to each one. Give your child a cocktail stick to use to spread the food coloring throughout the glue, creating beautiful swirls. Once your child has created the look she likes, let the glue dry completely over the course of about 24 hours. Once the glue has dried, your child's colorful, flexible creatures can be peeled away from the waxed paper.
There are plenty of activities you and your child can enjoy together when you have some basic food coloring on hand.
Do keep in mind that food coloring can stain hands and clothing so wear old clothes, and be careful when using this product.
Get out your food coloring and start some sensory play with your little ones today.
Angel xx
Color Mixing.
Food coloring is a great way to teach your child about the primary and secondary colors and how the primary colors mix together to create the secondary colors. Fill some clear glasses or plastic cups with water. Have your child place a drop of each of the primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) in three cups. Watching the colors swirl throughout the water is an activity by itself! Once the colors have dispersed throughout the water, add a drop of another color and see what happens. When you add yellow to red, you get orange! When you add red to blue, you get purple. And when you add blue to yellow you end up with green. Now you have the secondary colors: green, orange, and purple. You can allow your child to experiment by adding more drops, or mixing all of the drops together, to see what colors they can come up with.
Color Dispersion.
In a shallow bowl, pour in some milk and about five drops of dawn dish detergent. Next, give your child a bottle of food coloring and let him or her add drops one at a time to the milk mixture. When the food coloring hits the milk, the colors will shoot across the bowl in a circular fashion. The effect created is very visually stimulating for all ages.
Snow Paint. When you have snow on the ground outside, extend the fun in the snow by making some snow paints. Using any type of squirt bottles, fill them with water and a small amount of food coloring. You child can then use the squirt bottles to "paint" on the snow outside. When the snow melts, the colors will disappear.
Shaving Cream Bags.
Using clear zippered top bags, fill two or three with just enough shaving cream that they will still shut easily. Let you child add drops of food coloring to the bags, seal them tightly, and then squish! Your child will love the feeling of squishing the shaving cream all around inside the bag. As the food coloring is moved around it will dye the shaving cream. You can also make this activity a color mixing project by adding more than one color drop to the bags. If you're really brave, you can even do this activity without the bags, filling a cookie sheet with shaving cream for your child to run his hands through and disperse the food coloring.
Glue Creature
Using basic white school glue, let your child squirt out a few shapes onto waxed paper. Once the glue is on the waxed paper, add a drop of food coloring to each one. Give your child a cocktail stick to use to spread the food coloring throughout the glue, creating beautiful swirls. Once your child has created the look she likes, let the glue dry completely over the course of about 24 hours. Once the glue has dried, your child's colorful, flexible creatures can be peeled away from the waxed paper.
There are plenty of activities you and your child can enjoy together when you have some basic food coloring on hand.
Do keep in mind that food coloring can stain hands and clothing so wear old clothes, and be careful when using this product.
Get out your food coloring and start some sensory play with your little ones today.
Angel xx