Painting With Soap Suds

A few days ago, I was skimming through an old Childcraft "Make and Do" volume, that has been sitting on our bookshelf for years. It's last revision was in 1967, and yet most of the craft ideas it contains, are still being done by children today. It lists a number of familar concepts, like cardboard castles, string dolls, and paper baskets.

One idea, was new to me though - soap suds paint, made by combining liquid starch with laundry detergent, and coloring. I set out to the grocery store in search of liquid starch, hoping it was an inexpensive item, and not a novelty. Unfortunately, no one in town seemed to carry it, or had even heard of such a thing.

I decided to give cornstarch a try, instead. After a little bit of trial, and error, I hit on a mixture I was pleased with. I used 2 tablespoons of dry cornstarch, and one cap full of liquid laundry detergent.

I beat the mixture with a handheld mixer, on high, for about five minutes, until it looked about like marshmallow cream.

Then, I divided it into bowls, mixed a few drops of food coloring into each bowl, and let the kids go to work.

When first applied, the paint was very foamy, and wet. Since it was so soggy, I had the kids paint on cereal box cardboard.

As, it dried it lost most of it's puffiness, but retained a delicate, bubbly texture.

It was almost as much fun watching the pictures transform, as they dried, as it was painting them. And, because it was mixed with soap, the cleanup was a snap (aside from the huge amount of bubbles, that were created when I rinsed out the dishes, and that the children felt compelled to blow all over the kitchen - okay, okay - the children, and I).

It's great to be a homeschooler.