SUDS PAINTING

This past week I have been working on a new presentation on how children explore water using different apparatus and different provisions for the Reggio Inspired Network of Minnesota.  For those of you who attended the presentation today, thank you for all the discussion and input and here is an apparatus that did not make it into the PowerPoint, but I think you will appreciate.   For those of you who follow this blog, this a reworking of a post from nearly three years ago that is a form of water play and color mixing.   

Is Suds Painting a sensory activity?  As you will see, it becomes highly sensory in nature.  Is it an art activity?  It is definitely a color mixing activity, but there is no product.  Even the mixing of colors is momentary.

The set up for Suds Painting is simple.  A plastic gutter splash guard is taped on an incline to a planter tray inside the table.  Children 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 and colors begin to mingle.


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.  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 same approximate ratio.  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 bowls or plastic margarine tubs so the children have containers for mixing the different colored suds.

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. However, 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.  You can see that in the picture above.  Often times the children will ask for more 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.

I never noticed it before, but this child looks like she is in an mixing trance.

And sometimes a child will use both brushes and hands.

Brush, hands, color and painting all become one for this child.

There is something about the characteristics of suds and paint that invite a kind of sensory bliss. Watch the six-second video below of a child rubbing the paint, the suds and the bristles of the brush around in her hands.  Pay special attention at the end as the child exhales.  Is it bliss?

Bliss or not, at this point the Suds Painting is totally sensory.  The color now is a grayish purple and it is not getting used to paint.  Who needs color when suds dousing is an option?  Does it get any better than this?