Coloured Salt Artwork

We made some interesting salt art today. The children created designs on black paper using glue sticks.

Once the glue designs were created the children coated them with fine table salt, taking care to shake off any extra. Using pipettes and coloured water (blue, yellow, and red) the children dropped colour onto the salt designs.  They realized through personal investigations that the salt drew the water towards it, so if they placed just one drop of colour into the middle of the salt, the colour would slowly spread to a large area around the drop. The colours mixed into beautiful designs! Some children experimented with using two droppers at once so that new colours were created. (Thank you to Mrs. Freeman for a great idea!)

Some of the finished pieces included:

Because of the nature of the salt, when your child brings this art home much may have fallen off the paper. Although this was an art activity, we were more interested in the experince and potential for investigation it provided. Why don't you ask your child to explain how (s)he made this artwork and what the salt and water did when it comes home?