A beautifully sunny morning outdoors for our session today. During our last session we looked at how we can extract colour from nature and so this morning’s session was designed to build on this by using a mortar and pestle to extract inks from a variety of natural materials.

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We split into smaller groups today, making it easier for the children to follow instructions enabling them to create and test out their own inks. Set up on the table were raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and spinach, along with a mortar and pestle, salt, water, paper and paintbrushes.

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Following a demonstration on how to create the inks, Mini Nature Artists got to work selecting the ingredients to place in their mortar and pestles. They engaged in lots of conversations about what was available, what they were going to use, (some sneaky little taste testing by some), and predictions of what colours they would be able to make. Looks of excitement grew on their faces as the water started to absorb the colours to create inks and they tested them out on the paper. We ended up with a whole rainbow of colours including red, purple, blue and green.

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The Mini Nature Artists were keen to try a whole selection of ingredients to make inks and explore some colour mixing to create an even larger palette of colour. A couple of the children became so absorbed in the process that they shared their knowledge on the process with new children joining the group, helping them through step by step to make their own inks. They did such a fantastic job, it truly was delightful to see.

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As the children’s artwork began to dry, they observed how some of the colours they had initially made began changing in front of their eyes. This created the opportunity to discuss how we will be exploring the magic of natural inks in more depth during our next session!

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Back to observations.