Artmaking with Natural Dye

Expanding on a triptych painting project with the three and four year olds at Charlotte Children’s Center, the group decided to go big! In this science and arts exploration, the children collected food scraps from home, boiled them to create dyes, and made hypotheses about what colors would yield when we applied them to the muslin. Their guesses were recorded on a large grid. After created the dye it was bottled and then applied to the muslin on a chilly winter day. When the large muslin panels were dry the class took time to observe the work using hands, eyes, and noses. The giant dyed triptych was prominently displayed in the school along with the students’ process and noticings.