(Making) Natural Dyes and Shaving Cream Play!

Maybe it's the teacher in me or the desire to be an educational mama, but whatever the case I'm always on the lookout for engaging ideas and activities to do with the girls.  I feel so incredibly lucky that our backyard and farm land is such a natural playground.  We can literally step foot outdoors and have a handful of teachable moments waiting-any day, any time.  
One morning recently I woke up early enough to chug a cup of coffee before the girls awoke.  I quickly browsed my Pinterest board "My girls" to see what activities we could include in our routine over the next few weeks.  
I saw an idea I'd saved for making your own natural dyes and immediately knew I wanted to give it a try.  The girls (Anna Ruth especially) were so excited when I told her the plan!
We ventured outside and went on a nature walk, collecting items that closely represented the three colors you see above.  
Next I twisted up some cloth burp rags and wrapped rubber bands around them, hoping to create a bit of a tie-dyed look.
Then we boiled the fabric in the pots on the stove for about 15 minutes and hung them out to dry.
I so wish I had a better quality picture than this one, but the sun was particularly bright in the moment I had available to capture our work!  But, you can see that two of the dyes actually worked pretty well!  The marigolds dyed the fabric a nice yellow color, while the berries and purple flowers dyed the fabric a light pink tint.  The green pot didn't seem to work at all-we'll have to add more items to our brew next time!

While we were waiting for the fabrics to boil I let the girls do some shaving cream play on our back deck table.
Betsy Grace got so into the play she decided to lather herself with the shaving cream!


Anna Ruth was a bit more hesitant with the "mess" but really enjoyed getting the hose out and spraying everything off.

All together these activities were a couple of hours very well spent with my girls.  We were talking, asking questions, listening, and learning from one another and the beautiful scenery we get to call home.

1 comment:

  1. Oh hasn't the dye made pretty colours! It's a shame about the green, maybe you need different greenery, after all grass stains always seem impossible to shift from the laundry, perhaps that would work? Or if you fancied something similar but different, how about this http://wonkypatchwork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/flower-power-bunting.html
    I keep meaning to try it with my girls :)

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