Combining Art and Science

Activities for Kids that Combine Art and Science

My boys love art, and we typically do some sort of art project every single day.  Some days it's as simple as pulling out the tempura paint, and other days it is more involved.  My older two kids love projects that cause a reaction.  My six year old especially loves to watch and learn how things work.  He has the mind of a scientist.  He is extremely observant and detail oriented.  Most of his favorite art projects are those activities that combine art and science.  Lately I've seen some amazing ideas for combining art and science on some of my favorite blogs, so I decided to put them all together in one place.

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Erupting Watercolor Absorption Art

Easy art projects for kids - Erupting Watercolor Paint

I'm thrilled to be kicking off an art series called Easy Art Projects for Kids.  My kids will be exploring different art mediums and ways to create, and I will be sharing the process twice a month along with several of my favorite bloggers!  Our first theme is exploring watercolors.  Since my boys love absorption art with liquid watercolors I decided to put a spin on a classic by making erupting watercolor paint.  The boys had so much fun with our erupting flour paint and erupting sidewalk chalk paint, so I knew they would love erupting watercolor absorption art.  This activity is suitable for toddlers on up, but I have to say my six year old got into it the most.

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Alphabet Games {The Sunday Showcase}

Alphabet Games featured on The Sunday Showcase

These awesome alphabet games are from last week's Sunday Showcase.

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Rainbow Sidewalk Chalk Paint Recipe

Erupting Rainbow Sidewalk Chalk Paint

We were blessed with such gorgeous weather today that I knew I had to plan an outdoor activity for the boys.  Going along with our recent rainbow theme I pulled out a classic favorite.  We make sidewalk chalk paint often; it's one of our favorite homemade paint recipes.  I made this batch in rainbow colors, and as a bonus I made it erupting sidewalk chalk paint!  

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Rainbow Quick Paints

Rainbow Homemade Paint Recipe

It's no secret that we love homemade paint recipes.  One of our favorite recipes to fall back on for a quick art session is our quick paints recipe.  We've made apple scented quick paints and candy corn quick paints, and since we've been all about the rainbows lately I mixed up a batch of rainbow quick paints.

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Rainbow Resist Art

Rainbow Art for Kids

Lately Peanut, one of my two year old twins, asks to paint all day every day.  Many times we simply pull out the regular paints and brushes, and other times I like to change it up.  Today I thought it would be fun to make some resist art going along with our recent rainbow kick.  Using the colors of the rainbow makes beautiful art for kids, and resist art is always a favorite!  It puts a simple twist on painting, and the results are guaranteed to dazzle.

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Ways to Paint {The Sunday Showcase}

Ways to Paint featured on The Sunday Showcase

These awesome ways to paint are from last week's Sunday Showcase.

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Rainbow Eruptions

Science for Kids - Rainbow Eruptions

If your kids are anything like mine, they never tire of the baking soda and vinegar experiment.  Any science for kids that produces an eruption is at the top of the list of favorites around here.  We've been on a rainbow kick lately with rainbow slime, rainbow paintings with marshmallows, and rainbow flour paint, and next up on the list is rainbow eruptions!  We did use baking soda and vinegar, but we also made vinegar free rainbow eruptions.

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Rainbow Slime Recipe

Rainbow Slime Recipe for Play

We always have a batch of slime in our house.  Seriously, always.  Slime lasts for months and months on end which is why it's one of our favorite recipes for play.  I love materials that can be reused again and again.  We've been on a rainbow kick lately with rainbow flour paint, painting rainbows with marshmallows, and rainbow sand slime.  Since we were due for a new batch of slime I thought it would be fun to make this batch rainbow!  This rainbow slime recipe is so easy to make and only calls for three ingredients.

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Erupting Flour Paint Recipe

Eruptions with Homemade Flour Paint

The other day I shared the rainbow flour paint recipe I created, and today I'm excited to share the new spin we put on it!  What's more fun than homemade paint?  Homemade paint that erupts!  With a slight variance in the recipe, this batch of flour paint produced cool eruptions on our artwork.

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Fine Motor Valentine's Day Art for Toddlers

Valentines Art ~ Q-tip Painted Hearts

I am so excited to have my dear friend Tammy sharing an activity today.  Tammy and I have grown close over the year, and as I got to know her better I realized that so many of my favorite pins on Pinterest were from her!  A couple of my favorites include Dancing Oobleck and Exploding Art.  Today she is sharing a Valentine's art project for toddlers.

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Valentine's Sensory Play {The Sunday Showcase}

Valentine's Sensory Play Activities featured on The Sunday Showcase

These awesome ideas for Valentine's sensory play are from the previous two Sunday Showcases.

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Rainbow Flour Paint Recipe

Homemade Paint Recipe - Flour Paint

We have a nice supply of store bought paint, but I almost always find myself whipping up my own.  Why?  Because it's so much fun experimenting with everyday items and adding different textures and changing up consistencies.  You can find our full list of homemade paint recipes here, and then read on to see how we made our rainbow flour paint.

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Chocolate Recipes for Play

Chocolate Activities for Kids

We've been having some yummy, chocolaty fun this week, so with Valentine's Day approaching I thought it would be fun to put together recipes for play from around the web with chocolate as the main ingredient.  I have a confession:  I'm not a big chocolate person.  I don't dislike it, but I don't love it.  The smell, on the other hand, cannot be topped.  I wish I could take a walk through Willy Wonka's chocolate factory just to sniff all the wonderful chocolate goodness.  Okay, before I dive into an imaginary river of chocolate I better get back on track.

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Erupting Chocolate Oobleck

Chocolate Oobleck Eruptions - Recipe for Play

JZ (6) has been asking me if we could make Oobleck for over a week now, but we were low on cornstarch.  A couple packets came in one of our recent Kiwi Crates, so I set those aside for a batch of Oobleck.  Since we had so much fun yesterday with our chocolate puffy paint I pulled out the cocoa again to make this batch of Oobleck chocolate scented.  Oh my goodness it smelled amazing!  Oobleck is one of our very favorite recipes for play.  To change it up a bit I made our chocolate Oobleck with a special ingredient, so the boys could make chocolate eruptions to extend their play.

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Edible Chocolate Puffy Paint Recipe

Homemade Paint Recipe - Chocolate Puffy Paint

You know how much we love homemade puffy paint, right?  We are borderline obsessed.  It's so easy to make, and it lasts in the fridge for many months.  With Valentine's Day around the corner and chocolate on my mind, I suggested we make a batch of chocolate puffy paint.  Do I even need to mention how excited my boys were?  Chocolate and paint, what's not to love?  We've yet to make a homemade paint recipe we don't love.

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