I don’t know if I had more fun with this or my kids. Such a fun activity (you can bring in the science aspect if your kids are older), and it actually produces some pretty spectacular art! Here’s what you’ll need:
SUPPLIES:
Milk (regular or almond/alternative; doesn’t matter. You use a very little amount but if you don’t want to be wasteful, shaving cream diluted with some water is an option)
Shallow dish pan or casserole type dish
About a Tbsp of dish soap, in a small bowl
Q-tips
Liquid food colors
Paper (thicker/card stock is easier to work with but not essential)
Child helpers (or not!)
Old towel or drying rack for drying your creations
LET’S PICASSO THIS:
Pour a thin layer (maybe quarter inch) of liquid at the bottom of your pan.
Choose several liquid food colors (3 works well; too many colors turn things brown quickly!) and scatter drops across the surface.
Here comes the magic! Take a Q-tip, dip first in dish soap, then lightly touch one of the color dots in the milk. Your kids will be mesmerized as the colors swirl! If they are older, you can explain to them that the soap is a surfactant, breaking the surface tension and spreading the molecules apart. Surfactants like soap are special because the molecules have a hydrophilic and hydrophobic end (one end of the molecule “sticks” to water and the other does not. Here’s my secret; I’m a science nerd.)
Once you’re satisfied with your swirled masterpiece, take a piece of paper (I cut ours to be slightly smaller than the pan), briefly “stamp” it straight down, and lift out- voila! Dry your fun abstract designs on an old towel or drying rack.
Options are endless: make these into greeting cards, use as mats for framing photos, or hang as the art themselves. Hope your little Picasso loves this project as much as mine did! Would love to see pictures of your creations- give me a tag if you’re on IG @ruthsager1 🥰
xox, Ruth
