Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Scented Finger Paint For Fall



I made the girls a batch of fall scented finger paint, today (probably because of all the wonderful scented play dough, I've seen this week - thanks to Little Page Turners, and Super Heroes & Princesses).

It's the same recipe we've used for finger paint in the past - 1/2 cup cornstarch, 4 tablespoons sugar, and 2 cups of water cooked over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken.

But, instead of mixing it with Kool-Aid for scents, I used some fall spices, like cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, a little apple cider mix, and a tablespoon of brewed orange spice tea.


I blopped the cooked painted right on top of the spices...


...then added a few drops of food coloring to each bowl (fall colors of course), and we were good to go. I left the drops of dish soap out this time, because the paint smelled so good, I wasn't sure I could keep them from sampling it. But, the clean up was still quite simple, even without the soap.


My initial thought was the girls could just cover pages in swirly mixtures of paint, and we could cut them into leaf shapes, to make a nicely scented garland, or something like that. But, the girls wanted to make pictures, so we switched to fall trees.

I showed them how to paint trunks, and branches, and then they added leaves, and grass.

They tried big gloppy leaves...


...and little dotted leaves...


...and even made some hand print trees.


They enjoyed the entire process so much, in fact, that I now have a forest of fall trees, drying on the table.



The kitchen has never smelled so good.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

20 comments:

Debbie said...

Just reading the ingredients you used for scents make me want to make this myself. I like the artwork too!

Christy Killoran said...

I love their trees! So pretty! I love fall.

I have made Kool Aid paint, but I have never made homemade finger paint with spices. We will definitely do this soon. I can almost smell it.

Thanks for the link.

Christianne @ Little Page Turners said...

The handprint tree turned out surprisingly well! We haven't done homemade paint yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. :)

Centers and Circle Time said...

Mmmm! I can't wait to try this for my fall theme! Thanks for sharing!

MamaGames - Alexa C. said...

Ooh, I love this. When I make scented playdough in the fall, it's usually just one scent at a time, though by Thanksgiving we may have 3 or 4 made. But to do paints like this, you could have all the scents together right away. Yum.

Sherri said...

What a fantastic idea!

Unknown said...

Oh, Baby Girl is SUCH a tactile learner- this would be PERFECT for her!

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

How cute! Thanks for the recipe too, one day I definitely want to try it out.

Kelli said...

they sound yummy

Brimful Curiosities said...

Oh, this sounds like such fun! I love all those scents.

Charlene Juliani said...

That looks like such a fun and yummy smelling project....Totally stealing this from you ;)

Anonymous said...

This is awesome! We'll definitely be making some!

(I featured you as well, hope you don't mind! :)

http://ucreatewithkids.blogspot.com/2010/11/tutorial-fall-scented-finger-paint.html

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Elizabeth - That's great - thanks!

Brenna said...

What a great idea for sensory plus art. Thanks.

I Am Rachele said...

I love the idea of adding scents! Please come share with us on It's Playtime.

Kristen Chapman said...

I never would have thought to add spices to paint! What a great idea. I wonder how this would work with play-dough . . .

earlychildhoodscribbles.blogspot.com

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

scrapaholic06 - We did something similar with playdough here -http://almostunschoolers.blogspot.com/2009/11/surprise-scent-holiday-play-dough.html

Kristen Chapman said...

Thanks, I'll have to try that this year!

Anonymous said...

Do you need to use the paint right away? How long does it keep for? I would need to make this at home and bring it to school.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

If you put it in airtight containers it should be fine to make the night before. With sugar in it, I'd think it might mold after a while though.