mrrichiecreates.com
The Ice Cream Painting That Drinks Water
Can a line of salt carry color through an imaginary ice cream?
LOOK CLOSELY
Where will the drop travel?
Point along the salt line. Will the color stop, spread, or take a surprising turn?
Video coming soon. Explore the activity below.
Gather what you need
Sturdy paper in a tray, white school glue, table salt, liquid watercolor, and a dropper or brush.
For your grown-up: This ice cream is art, not food. Keep salt, glue, and paint out of mouths and eyes. A grown-up manages loose salt. Color moves through spaces between salt grains, and some salt dissolves; compare with paper absorbing water.
Let’s see what happens.
- Draw an imaginary ice cream with glue. Choose your own scoops, cone, and surprising toppings.
- Sprinkle salt over the glue and tip the extra into the tray.
- Predict what a tiny drop of color will do. Touch it to the salt and watch the color travel through the tiny spaces.
- Try another drop nearby. Notice where colors meet, then leave the painting flat to dry.
Your ideas belong here too.
Where will the color travel next? Choose a flavor nobody has ever tasted and describe its color.
Tell me about your making.
How was this different from putting a drop on plain paper?
What would you try next?
“I’ll show you how I did mine. Yours doesn’t have to look like mine.”
For grown-ups · lesson notes
For grown-ups: open the little lesson plan →
Elements of Art focus: Color. Follow color through a connected salt path. Meet the seven art ideas →
PLAY THIS ART ADVENTURE · 10
A Drop Goes Traveling
Follow color through a connected salt path.
Art ideas: Color. One playful connection to this project.
Find this resource again: mrrichiecreates.com/episodes/ice-cream-absorb