Painting with Naturally Dyed Ice | Discovering Liquids and Solids

Students painting with natural dye ice cubes

This is a suer fun, hands on project to explain liquids and solids to your children. Children will learn what happens to a solid when exposed to heat and the difference between a liquid and a solid.

What you’ll need:

• A freezer, or sheltered outdoor winter area

• Popsicle sticks

• Ice cube trays

• Paper (thick cardstock or watercolor paper)

For Dye I used:

• Green- Spinach, Mint, and Carrot Greens

• Blue- Blueberries

• Yellow - Turmeric

• Reddish Brown - Paprika (for a more vibrant red, beats can also be used)

Instructions:

How to make your dyes:

Note- the dyes will stain your hands, if you do not wish to get the dye on your clothing or hands, I suggest wearing gloves and an apron, or, clothing that you don’t mind getting dye on.

• To make your dyes, bring water to a boil in a pot on your stove top. Use a different container for each individual color. For vegetables, you’ll want about two cups of ingredients for every two cups of water. For spices you’ll want 2 tablespoons for every two cups of water.

• Once boiling add ingredients for each color to assigned pot.

• Boil for 1 minute, and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes

• Strain ingredients from liquid - be sure to catch all the liquid in a pourable container.

• Once you have your individual colored liquids, let them cool to room temperature

• Once cooled, pour into your ice cube containers

• Once slightly frozen I put my popsicle sticks in to be used as the handles for painting. Letting the ice slightly freeze makes it easier for the sticks to stand upright.

• Let freeze (I let mine freeze over night)

• Once frozen, grab your watercolor paper and start painting!

(Making dyes for painting is different then making dyes for clothing, which generally involves vinegar and/or salt to make dyes more permanent. For this project we skipped those ingredients)

Discussion Topics and Questions:

• Can you find items around your home that are solids? What about liquids?

• What makes liquids turn to solids?

• Why do solids turn into liquids?

• Is ice a solid or a liquid?

• What did the ice turn into when it melted?

Migratory Birds - Winter Journey | Art and Stem Project

With the windchill temps reaching -25 degrees today, we were unable to get outside as we normally would, so, we filled our morning with a group art project on our migratory bird friends and their winter journey.

Students used dried popcorn cobs from the garden, wood scraps, foil, dried beans, foam, scraps of paper from our paper making day this past spring, yarn scraps, cotton balls, cuttings from old magazines and their imaginations to create a visual journey of migratory birds in the winter.

We started by discussing what dangers these birds might encounter on their journey and at different stopover sites along the way, and worked on adding those to the board. Next we discussed where we might go if we were birds flying to warmer weather, and created a warm weather world for them. I absolutely love the art that my students create and the thoughtful answers to these big questions!

This STEM project is a great, hands on way to learn about migratory birds and their winter journeys, through art.

Materials:

• Large display board, poster board, or anything you want to use as the base to your project.

• Glue

• Scissors

• Tape

• Materials for creating the different environments along the birds migration journey

We used:

• Dried popcorn cobs

• Wood scrap pieces

• Foil

• Dried beans

• Colored foam craft sheets

• Scraps of homemade paper

• Yarn remnants

• Cotton balls

• Cuttings from old magazines

You can use anything that you would like that you have around the house or in your recycling bins!

Instructions:

• Discuss with your child why birds migrate and when. Reading children’s books on migration is a great way to introduce the topic and get kids excited about engaging.

• Ask, “What are some possible dangers migratory birds might encounter in the different environments and places along the way?” Records their answers on a sheet of paper to refer to later

• Ask “If you were a migratory bird, where would you fly for the winter?” and record these answers to set aside for later

• Once you are ready, gather your materials

• Revisit your answers to the questions presented

• Work with your child to create the environments and dangers (that the birds may encounter) that were previously discussed. Have fun with this and get creative! We created a city (which reflects where we live and where my students go to school), using cotton balls for snow, the wood scraps to make buildings for our city, yarn remnants for telephone lines, and the scrap pieces of homemade paper for clouds. Next we created a river and woods reflected wild and natural environments and the different dangers for the birds there. Students glues dried beans for the shores, foil for water, corn cobs for cattails, and foam board for the trees.

• Once we created a visual landscape for the birds journey, we added our questions and answers from the day to our board.

• Hang your beautiful new piece of art, If you have a place to hang it, and tag us in your creations @littlenaturalistsmn

Homemade Playdough

Homemade playdough is one of my favorite winter crafts to do with my students! Its a great sensory activity, in the mixing and making as well as the playing, and its a fantastic way to learn about and experiement with colors, when choosing which ones to mix to match to achieve your desired playdough color!

There are many playdough recipes online, all slightly different from the other. Here’s how we make ours!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour

• 1 tsp cream of tartar

• 1/2 cup salt

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 cup water

• desired food coloring

Directions:

• Mix flour, cream of tartar, salt, vegetable oil, and water in large bowl

• Once mixed add food coloring and fold or stir in

• Put in sauce pan and cook over low to medium heat, stirring frequently, until playdough starts to harden and reach desired texture. (be careful touching playdough, as it will be hot!)

• Take off heat and allow to cool before touching

• Once cool, knead dough for a few minutes to make it a bit softer and malleable

• Have fun playing with your homemade playdough!

As always, I’d love to see your creations. Tag us on Instagram @littlenaturalistsmn to share! Happy creating!

Bird Seed Ornament

This is such a fun project and a great creative, motor skill and sensory craft! Bird seed ornaments, which will most likely also be enjoyed by other winter woodland friends as well, can be made overnight and hung the next day! All you need is some bird seed and a few other ingredients! If you’d like to make your own, follow the instructions below! Happy creating!

Bird Seed Ornaments:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup water

2 packets gelatin

3 tbsp corn syrup

3 cups bird seed

Items needed:

Parchment paper

Paper straws

Baking sheet

cookie cutters

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix all in ingredients (bird seed being last)

2. grab a baking sheet and line with parchment paper.

3. Place cookie cutters on sheet

4. fill cookie cutters with bird seed mix. Be sure to pack down with a spoon or fingers, ensuring the mix is tightly packed inside the cookie cutters. Fill cutters to top.

5. Cut plastics straws in quarters and press into bird seed ornament ensuring it pierces all the way through the mixture, making a hole to layer pull strings through to hang.

6. place baking sheet with bird seed filled cookie cutters outside (if you live in a cold climate) or in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours or over night.

7. After ornaments have hardened, take them out of the refrigerator or from outside and place string through hole previously made.

8. Go outside and hang your beautiful creation! See if you can spot the different animal friends that stop by to say hi and grab a bite to eat!

Tip:

Making the string holes in the center of the ornament rather than towards an edge will help ensure durability.