Rainy day rainbows

After an extraordinarily hot and sunny morning, the afternoon proved quite wet. It worked out perfectly since our morning plans had us running around outside, and after that we were ready for a quiet and relaxing indoor activity. I came across this rainbow stained glass window project last night, and thought it would be perfect for our front door. We used liquid watercolor, white crayons, and an all-purpose paper roll. I would have preferred a slightly sturdier paper, as this one wanted to warp a bit with the watercolor. But, since it doesn't effect the finished product too much, we went ahead and used it.

It's not very visible in the photos, but the white crayon repelled the watercolor nicely, and makes for a very striking effect with the sun shining through. The panels with random scribbles and geometric designs were the most effective. We have a few with drawings of flowers and butterflies that are a little more difficult to make out. The kids are pleased with their addition to our door, and have already decided that the next time we do this project, we'll use multiple colors on each panel, and be more random with the crayon. Oh, and don't forget the "peek hole"!

Toddler art and OCD don't play well together -or- Oh No!! They are mixing the colors!!!

 

I'm pretty good about letting the kids explore a new material on their on own terms, but I did bristle when the dough colors started mixing. I know it's my own hang up. They would happily smash all the colors together and make brown. I also know that I'll eventually get over it and give them more than two colors at a time and let them have at it. But, for the time being, they each choose a color and shred it to bits with the dough scissors, and then mash it back together and make snakes cadapidders. There was a lot of kneading and pinching and flattening too. This is only their 2nd time with play dough (I was nervous about the wheat, and the w/f dough that we tried to make was terrible) , and we'll have many more chances to experiment with it. I'm guessing that right now, it's more about playing with motor skills anyway. I'm wondering what other parents do with dough. What happens to the dough that is all mixed together? Do you just pick the dominant color and store it in that container? Do you have a separate container just for it? What's really interesting to me is that I have no problem with paint being mixed in the paint pots.