Make It Monday: Shaving Cream Leaves

I've wanted to do shaving cream painting with the kids for a while now. The beautiful colors of autumn leaves gave us the perfect opportunity to grab some supplies and make a mess.

Who cares that it's 70 degrees out and the kids asked if it's still summer.

Bring on the fall!

 Squirt shaving cream into a shallow dish.

 Spread it around to make it as smooth as possible.

Squirt paint in various fall colors onto the shaving cream and gently swirl it around.

Note to self: Buy orange paint!

Press a cardstock leaf lightly on the mixture.

 Remove the leaf and set aside for a few minutes.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat until you run out of leaves.

 Scrape off the shaving cream leaving the paint behind.

This step is slightly messy.

Ok, this step is extremely messy. But totally worth it.

I realized that the more I scraped the popsicle stick across the leaf, the more the paint colors spread and blended. It would have been easier to set the leaf down and use a large piece of cardboard to scrap off the shaving cream in one swoop.

And the finished product!

I probably should have put the leaves up and taken a picture before it got dark, but you know, life happens.

Jake thinks we need to make more for the window. There are still a few empty spaces.

I'm sure we'll be shaving cream painting again. What I'm not sure of is whether they had more fun painting or more fun taking a shaving cream bath afterwards.

Wordless Wednesday: 6/22/11

I am breaking all rules of Wordless Wednesday, but this picture needs an explanation.

I heard Zac laughing and playing after he woke up from his nap. This is what I found when I walked into his room . . .

Ok, this isn't exactly what I saw, since my view was sans leaf. But this little Leaf had stripped all his clothes and all his bedding.

And was apparently quite proud of himself.

Theory Thursday: Leaf Chromatography

I thought it would be neat to see what colors the leaves of our trees will be changing to in a few weeks. The colors or pigments are already present, but are hidden by the chlorophyll needed for photosynthesis. It begins to break down though during the fall. We used chromatography, the separation of mixtures, to speed up the process.

We collected 2-3 large leaves from several different trees, making a pit stop 
at the garden to snack on cherry tomatoes. We used leaves from an unknown tree, 
and birch, cottonwood, lilac, and maple trees.

Cut the leaves into several small pieces and place them in a jar.

 Add enough rubbing alcohol to each jar to cover the leaves. Jake hated the smell!

Using a plastic knife or spoon, carefully chop and grind the leaves in the alcohol.

Cover the jars very loosely with lids or plastic wrap or aluminum foil. 

Place the jars carefully into a shallow tray containing 1 inch of hot tap water.

Keep the jars in the water for at least a half-hour, until the alcohol has become colored (the darker the better). Twirl each jar gently about every five minutes. Replace the hot water if it cools off.

 Remove jars from water and uncover. Place a strip of paper towel into each jar 

so that one end is in the alcohol. Bend the other end over the top of the jar.

The alcohol will travel up the paper, bringing the colors with it. After 30-90 minutes, 

the colors will travel different distances up the paper as the alcohol evaporates. 

 Remove the strips of paper, let them dry. You should be able to see different shades of green, possibly some yellow, orange or red, depending on the type of leaf.

Our strips were mostly green surrounded by a bit of yellow. The kids were completely unimpressed. I must admit, so was I. I was hoping to see some red and orange. Maybe we'll just have boring trees this fall. Only time will tell.


* UPDATE * 
 Yep, we just have boring trees in our yard. {pout} We'll just have to try it again with pretty trees.