SUDS PAINTING

Most teachers might consider suds painting an art activity.  Well, I do, too, but the way I set it up in the sensory table there is no product, only process.  It is a color-mixing, totally sensory activity.

The set up for this activity is very simple.  I use a plastic gutter splash guard supported by a  tray.  Children will paint both the tray and the splash guard.  If enough suds paint is applied to the splash guard, the sudsy paint begins to flow down the splash guard.

To make suds paint, I use a foaming soap dispenser.  Pamper Chef has one that has the amount of dish soap to water ratio right on the side of the bottle.  It looks like the ratio is 1 part dish soap to 7 parts water.  Some hand soaps now come in foaming soap dispensers and I use those, too, using the approximate ratio on the Pamper Chef dispenser.  I put tempera paint on the bottom of a paint cup and then add the sudsy foam.  A long handled brush is used to mix the paint and the suds.

I put caps on the paint cups so it is not a pouring activity.  Each cup has a brush. Besides the tray and splash guard, other objects are provided for the children to paint.  I make sure there are always little bowls or plastic margarine tubs so the children have little mixing containers.

It is definitely a color-mixing activity.  My son-in-law is a Peruvian-trained artist. When I told him about the activity, he said it was not a good activity because when you mix all the colors all you get is an ugly brown.  It is true that by the end of class each day, the color is not very appealing, but the colors the children come up with along the way are amazing.  Take a look.

This last one was the children's lava flow.  Some children know a lot about volcanoes and are spontaneously able to build a narrative that invites others to join.


The color in the bowl below is not so impressive, but look at the child's hand.

As the activity progresses, I keep adding suds(see picture above).  Often times the children will ask for suds in their container and then mix in the colors.  The suds pumps have been used a lot so they are hard to work for the children.  As a consequence, I or another adult spend more time at the sensory table than usual.

The children mix and paint with the brushes.

And they mix it with their hands.





















And sometimes a child will use both brushes and hands.



There is something about the characteristics of suds and paint that invite a kind of sensory bliss.  Watch the six-second video below and pay special attention at the end as the child exhales.



I would say that sounded like a pretty blissful exhalation.