Paint with Nature

Paint with Nature

Items you will need:
Fruits or vegetables and other natural items.
(beets, blueberries, purple cabbage, spinach, red onion skins, walnut shells, coffee grounds, marigolds or dandelion flowers to name a few)
Pots
Water
Pot holder
Brush
Paper
White Cotton Twine
Scissors
Newspaper
Nontoxic White Glue (optional)

Make natural dyes by simmering beets, berries, onion skins, or other items until the water turns colored.

Remove the vegetables, then reserve the water and let it cool (the vegetables can be saved for soups, the fruit for puddings, and the onion skins tossed away!) The child can help with the cooling by placing the items in the pot (one fruit or vegetable per pot) and adding the water.

After the colored water has cooled, the child can use it to paint on paper or to dye cotton Twine. To dye the twine, let it soak in the vegetable dye for an hour, and then set it to dry on newspaper.

As a future activity, the child can make several colors of twine and then use the natural died twine for a collage.