Paint with Food!

What You Need:

• Foods for painting (dry mustard, paprika, cocoa, blackberries, curry, beets, red currants and more)
• Watercolor paper
• Water
• Paintbrushes
• Muffin tin
• Spoons
• OPTIONAL: measuring cup or medicine dropper

What You Do:

1. Ask your child to tell you his favorite colors. Write down the colors he names and explain that instead of using crayons or markers, you're going to make the same colors using food.
2. Go to the market! Pick out color-rich foods like the ones listed above. Show them to your child and discuss the color of each item. Tell your child that you are going to use the dyes in the foods to make your own paint. Have him predict what colors he can create using each food item.
3. Place a small sample of each food item in a compartment of the muffin tin. For example, place some paprika in one compartment and place some cocoa in a different compartment.
4. Just add water! Using a measuring cup or medicine dropper, help your child add a little water at a time. Use the spoon to mix the food into a paint-like consistency.
5. Using his paintbrush, have your child create an original piece of artwork. Anything goes, from still lifes to abstract art. Remind him to use a different brush for each color of paint or rinse the brushes before using a different color.
6. For a neat twist, try experiencing this activity as a pioneer. Help your child to make his own paintbrushes using pine boughs, assorted grass blades, or feathers. Have him to paint a picture with his natural paintbrush and natural paints.