Get Outside And... Paint a Rainbow!

In my own efforts to get outside with my kids as often as possible, I'm kicking off a new recurring series on the blog, Get Outside And... These will be posts that include a simple to set up activity to bring outdoors with you. We get out plenty with no special reason, activity or destination. Sometimes it's fun and exciting to do something special while we're out there. As the weather warms up, the outdoors can be a great (safe) place to take messy play and art. Today's post is a perfect example, but I can't take the credit for the idea. I first saw the idea for Rainbow Rain Painting on Learn As You Play. We adapted the idea to bring outdoors (using a couple of inexpensive folding table-top easels we frequently bring on the go) and adding in spray bottles along with the pipettes and water. This would be a great activity to take to the sprinkler park in the summer or poolside. And, as an added bonus, those watercolor pallets that are all mixed up and dirty will have a fresh new start! If I ever go back to teaching, I'm going to do this with my students at the end of every school year!

You will need:

• easel or vertical surface 
• white paper (watercolor paper works best)
• watercolor pallet (the standard 8 color version is perfect)
• pipettes & a cup/jar of water
• spray bottles filled with water

To set up your Rainbow Rain Painting Stations, clip your paper and watercolor pallet to the easel. The kids simply fill and squeeze water from the pipettes onto each color or spray with water and watch as the colors drip and bleed down the page. We had so much fun with this one--even I spent a good long while spraying at the end!

Happy Spraying, I mean Playing!