Sensory Art Mirror Play

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This week's Toddler Series theme is Mirrors! We decided to focus on sensory play with scientific elements! As many of you probably know, baking soda and vinegar is a very easy science experiment that even toddlers can do! Have you ever tried to use it for art? 

And just in case you have a little one who is not comfortable with certain textures, you can use these wonderful Crayola Window Markers to create art on mirrors! It looks stunning and we absolutely love the Crystal Effects markers!

For this recipe, you will need baking soda, water, white vinegar and food coloring. You will also need a tray with dividers or paint cups, a mixing utensil, a spray bottle and paint brushes. And of course, a mirror! We used a large mirror that we found on FreeCycle and removed it from the frame so we could use it for outdoor activities (I did not want the wood to splinter or erode). My kids were careful not to step on it and we had no accidents, but we may duct tape the sides in the future. 

Once you have the ingredients ready, pour the baking soda into your tray and add just enough water to make it mixable. You want the consistency to be a thick paste, but watery enough to paint with. Add in the food coloring and stir it until the color is thoroughly combined. Next, fill the spray bottle with white vinegar. Then take everything outside and set up the kids around a mirror. We placed the mirror flat on the ground so the baking soda paint wouldn't run. 

First they explored the spray bottles and worked on their fine motor skills!

Then they slowly started to add the baking soda paint. They were delighted to see the reactions!

Munchkin became quite the painter and even painted and sprayed at the same time!

Bean let Munchkin do most of the painting and enjoyed spraying the vinegar and watching the bubbles fizz and "clean" the mirror. 

Munchkin and I painted this lovely scene! He focused on the sun and the purple and pink sky, while I painted the grass and we both swirled together the blue sky. 

Then he literally spent the next hour spraying it here and there and watched the reactions.

Then when he ran out of vinegar he dropped the bottle and picked up a paintbrush and started spreading the colors all around until everything was purple!

When you are done and if you have leftover paint, simply store it away until you need it again! I have successfully stored baking soda paint for weeks with no issues. I just let it dry out and transfer it to an airtight container. Add water when you need it for your next activity! 

So was this a toddler approved activity? It certainly was! My little guy absolutely loved it and has asked to do it again many times since!

Be sure to check out Suzy Homeschooler's fabulous Reversed Text Mirror Play activity!

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