Color Me Happy!
Want another great water activity for toddlers and preschoolers? Fill some ice trays with different colors of water dyed with food-safe coloring and freeze. Fill up some clear plastic cups with plain water and let the little ones drop in different colored ice cubes. As the ice melts, the water will take on the color and they can experiment with adding two or three different colored cubes to see what kind of color appears. This is a great way to introduce mixing primary colors to make secondary colors.
And speaking of colors, how about a completely unique way to paint an outdoor picture? Pendulum painting makes beautiful designs and the fun of it is, you never know how the painting will turn out.
This can be adapted for all ages with a few small changes. For little ones, Mom or Dad can tie a marker or paintbrush to a string and simply allow the kids to swing it over the paper in different directions to make a fun abstract.
For older kids, you can take it up a notch by tying a long piece of string to a tree branch, adding different weights to the bottom of the string where the paintbrush is to be tied (fishing weights or tablecloth weights are perfect for this) and giving them several different colors of watered-down paint to experiment with.
A flat surface can be created on the ground with a large piece of cardboard or plywood and large sheets of paper taped down. Let the kiddos experiment with how the pendulum moves when it is first swung, and how it reacts as it slows down.
This is a good way to teach them about gravity and force. What happens when the pendulum is swung lightly and what happens when you apply more force? How do the lines and circles change as the pendulum slows down? This project can be done on a small or large scale depending on how much room you have to work, so let the kids go wild with this mix of science and art!