Kids Crafts: Easy Salt Paintings
Submitted by Amelia Eigerman on
When I was a little kid, I used to love to squirt lines of glue across construction paper, then pour on pencil shavings and see my “designs” turn into a fuzzy wooden work of art. This is a version of that same craft using salt instead of pencil shavings. Salt is easier to come by, and it allows for a neat scientific twist!
By adding a small drop of watercolors to a squiggle of salt, you can demonstrate capillary action. This is the property of liquids that allows them to move in small spaces without external help. The same principle is shown when water “spreads out” on a paper towel, or a flower in colored water takes on the color of the water. The water colors aren’t only a science lesson, they’re super pretty!