Fairy Potions: Make Your Own Lavender Bud Glue Paint

With Purim and the onset of Spring colliding in one fun filled week (that also happens to be Y's second birthday as well), we have really gotten into some magical fairy themed fun here. We've been busy in general and busy especially at our Fairy Potions Creation Station concocting up some great recipes for art, sensory exploration and play. One of our very favorites was making our own Lavender Bud Glue Paint.

I love encouraging process art here as I feel it really honors each individual artist for who he or she is--regardless of age, ability or interest level. S is not as interested these days in craft art. He does a lot of it at school and I gather that it is not always his favorite activity there either. Artistically, he's often a minimalist. This is not to say that he rushes through something leaving a once-and-done streak across the page (sometimes that is the case, however). Rather, much of the time, he is very intentional in what he does, paying particular attention to the aesthetics of it, but does not necessarily cover a page or spend a great amount of time at one project. He may return to something later on or he may not. He particularly has interest in three dimensional art, self directed creations, using tape/collage, glue, dough/clay, sewing, connecting and using and small loose parts like beads and buttons. Y is typically a fill your page and then some kind of guy. He could color, paint, draw, doodle and "write" all day long if you let him! He likes a variety of mediums from paints to markers, crayons, pastels, pencils, do-a-dots, stickers, stamps, glue, paper scraps for collage and often needs a reminder and swift intervention to remember the paper first! When it comes to craft art or directed activities, I can usually predict my boys' interest and participation level and even how they might approach it. But when I introduce a novel process art activity, I am often surprised.

For this activity, I simply set out a glass jar about 1/3 full of clear gel glue, a wooden craft stick and a tiny plastic dessert spoon on a dollar store mirror tray at each space. In the center of the table, I set an additional glass vase with paint brushes, a small glass vase of lavender buds and one more glass vase filled half way with water dyed purple (with food coloring) and a couple of pipettes for transferring. I had some half sheets of thick watercolor paper on trays as well for when the boys would be ready to paint with their concoctions. Particularly with more hesitant or reluctant artists, I find smaller sized paper to be more appealing. Smaller children of all artistic interests can benefit from the use of paper in non traditional sizes, shapes and mediums. In other words, your classic 8.5x11 white paper gets boring after a while--mix it up a bit!

Speaking of mixing it up, I loved having the opportunity to allow each of the boys to mix his own paint concoction. They each chose how much water to add, how much lavender to sprinkle in, what to use to mix it, what to use to paint with and how to complete their painting in the end. As I mentioned, I'm often surprised by the "results" of a process art experience. I gave no specific instructions and really made a point to say very little other than in response to the boys. S--who is more likely to want to wipe his hands during painting loved the sticky glue paint. He was fascinated by every aspect of adding ingredients to his jar, watching them layer and settle and mixing it together. He was most drawn to using the paintbrush--a tool he is not particularly interested in most of the time. He painting wide and thin streaks of lavender bud glue paint across most oft he paper he chose. Y, who usually loves to be hands on and in, was a bit more reserved about the sticky glue. He loved shaking lavender buds over his mixture and favored using the spoon to drizzle a few smaller dots and puddles in the center of his paper. 

While I cleaned up a bit, the boys played at stirring up some sparkly water potions at our sensory table, which I had already filled with colored water, glitter, lavender buds and lily petals (recycled from some cut flowers that were on their way out). I had some water play in the kitchen sink rinsing our dishes. I did combine the two boys' paint mixtures into one jar, screwed on the lid and saved it for future use. I think that having a hand in creating the materials used for art really adds an element of ownership to the experience. If the "messiness" factor is inhibiting for you, I'd recommend taking this one outdoors as the weather gets nicer--it truly was a lovely experience for all involved!