create (with kids): textured finger-paint

Ah, finger-paint. We love to paint with it around here, admire our work for days, then cut it up to make other creations like these. We've learned a few things along the way too. We now know my homemade finger-paint has yet to turn out rich and colorful as Crayola's. We've also found that freezer paper can work in a pinch, but true finger-paint paper does allow the paint to move around the best. But we hadn't experimented with adding ingredients into our finger-paint until now...

It was a happy accident. The girls were in an extra creative mood, which allowed for some evolution of our craft. We turned on some artsy music, donned our smocks, and started out with our finger-paints and paper. The girls were having fun talking and watching each other create.

And I was having fun watching them too, as well as talking about developments in their pictures. (We've yet to really study color mixing, so I especially like to point that out as it naturally occurs.) All was going well, then their interest started to wane. I wondered how I could keep their interest. At first I thought more paint, but then wondered about adding something else to the paper instead. Something with that could add texture to their beautiful paintings, something like... cornmeal!

 They weren't too sure about my adding cornmeal to their paintings at first. But they gave me the benefit of the doubt, and ended up having a lot of fun watching the paint transform into something new.

I only added small amounts of cornmeal at a time, to make sure it got fully absorbed into the paint. I was worried that the cornmeal might flake off of the paintings, but it hasn't so far. 

 

Aren't these wonderfully expressive paintings? It's amazing what kids can do with simple art materials, and time. I think that time is the one of the most important things. Time to create, then additional time to evolve. To try something a different way. To add a dash of cornmeal, and see what loveliness occurs.