Painting with Seasoning and Spices. Sensory Creativity

If you're a regular reader you'd know that we love to paint.

The freedom,

 the creativity,

the expression, 

 the colours

 and; the endless possibilities

 always keep us coming back for more...

Today we tantalised an extra sense by painting with seasoning and spices.

Ages: everyone! 

(M is 3 and I'm 10x that and loved it too ;))

Materials: Spices & Seasonings, water, paintbrush, paper.

Before adding any water to the seasoning and spices we had a smell of them all and talked about what we could smell. According to Maddie, she could smell a lot of onion lol.

Tip a small amount of each powder into a container (we're using some recycled plastic packaging here)

The spices/seasonings that we used are:

Top left across: Nutmeg, Tandoori Seasoning & Smoked Paprika

Middle row from left: Mixed Spice, Ground Cinnamon & Chinese Five Spice

Bottom row from left: Chicken Salt, Moroccan Seasoning & Turmeric

 Mix a small amount of water into each. (less water gives stronger colours) and you're ready to paint

Not that Maddie ever needs encouragement to paint, but she was practically chomping at the bit to start this one!

 Best smelling picture she'd ever made

Talk about any different textures you see. Some dissolve well and others are still a little grainy

If you add a very small amount of water they can go pasty like this. 

She enjoyed painting with these ones the most.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, smells good!

She kept painting until she ran out. At the very end she splattered the seasoned/spiced paint for a different effect

Ok- I had to have a go too. So fun and the colours reminded me of Autumn.

Handy Tips:

- Simplify this for younger children by letting them paint with their fingers. Just ensure that none of the seasonings or spices are too hot or spicy in case your little one just has to have a taste. You will also need to make sure they don't rub any in their eyes.

- Extend this by challenging older kids to try to match the made up seasoning/spice paint to the original dried seasoning/spice.

- Go here to have a look at a group art session by The Children's Art Group where they made spice paint using glue instead of water.

- Mix it up by having your child come up with suggestions for their own sensory paint. Are there other pantry items that might work as well?

- Use this time to talk about the different senses with your child as well as the different countries etc. that these spices and seasonings are most commonly used in.

- Remember that sometimes children just create, they don't need it to be a specific item at the end. It could just be an abstract creation. Allow this and don't push them to think they must make something "real."




Happy playing,
Debs :)