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Painting with Naturally Dyed Ice | Discovering Liquids and Solids

Discovering liquids and solids through natural dye ice painting

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?

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