Invitation to Play: Sidewalk paint

Invitation to play is a well explored concept in the parenting blogosphere. I think it is the imagination tree that started this, atleast thats where I found out about this interesting apprach to encouraing creativity.

What is invitation to play? In general, it is an interesting and novel combination of playing materials. it could also be, in case of lazy moms like me, old materials simply set up in a new scenario, that encourages n a novel experience.

An invitation to play is, almost always, open ended, the set up is simple, and invites children to experiment.

Here is this morning's invitation to play. It is the holidays and early morning messes are allowed and encouraged.

Cornflour, water and food coloring in mushroom containers, water and brushes, and here is the catch - the staircase

Sophia is beginning to get warmed up

Anjali joined in, not long after

At this point, I went to take a shower and get ready for work. Here is what it looked like when I came back 45 minutes later

What was fabulous is how bright the colors look when they dry. Rather like the rice flour kolams that we used to do in India on occassions. I remember my mom using the kolam flour, making a kolam that would look virtually colorless. After half an hour, it would be a brilliant white against the earth. These are the same. They become really bright after they dry.

For those who worry, the whole thing washes off. It makes for amazing graffitti and Street Art.

Anjali has this idea of doing this the next time we have Friday playdate at our house and making it a teamwork painting session - girls versus boys on different flights of steps to determine whose painting looks the most beautiful