Autumnal Spices Watercolours

The natural colours at this time of year are so vibrant that we decided to try and create some of these colours by making our own watercolour paint using everyday spices. We went out through the woods and collected some autumn leaves, looking at all the different colours we could identify in the leaves.

Having chosen colours we then set about making paints. The children shook the spices into the palette, taking time to smell the spice and comment on this. We used cinnamon, ginger, cayenne pepper and mixed spice amongst others. The children then added water to the spices using pipettes and we mixed the resulting paste together.

We grabbed out paint brushes and the children set to work using the different colours to create works of art. The smell was amazing as all the spices got moved around. We left our art work to dry and added it to our autumn display.

This activity covered so many areas of learning and was great fun together with making the house smell heavenly!

Social Development: The children took turns sharing the pipettes and the spices
Physical Development: The use of pipettes and mixing tools develops fine motor skills
Communication: The children followed instructions to make the paint
Literacy: Through using the paintbrushes the children developed early writing skills
Understanding the World: We talked about Autumn and the reason for leaves changing colour
Being Imaginative: The children designed their own artwork, expressing themselves through paint