Vanishing Water Paintings

What you need

• Water, 1 bucket, filled with plain water
• Bucket, 1
• Sponge, 1
• Spray bottle, 1
• Paintbrush, 2 or 3, one fat and one thin

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Pick a dry, sunny spot on your own path or driveway, away from cars, with a shady patch nearby. Stay close while kids paint.

1. Fill the bucket with plain water.
2. Carry your brushes, sponge and spray bottle outside.
3. Paint big wet shapes on the pavement, fence or wall.
4. Paint a name, a smiley face, a monster or a hopscotch grid.
5. Watch your wet picture slowly fade away.
   Ask: Where do you think the water is going?
6. Paint the same picture in the sun and in the shade.
7. Count how long each picture takes to disappear.
   Ask: Which one do you think will vanish first?
8. Try a fat brush and a thin brush, then compare.
9. Now paint more! What will you make with your water next?
   Ask: What would you like to paint next, and where do you think it will dry fastest?

Play it again

• Chalk race: paint over dry chalk drawings and watch the colors pop, then fade.
• Tracing game: one person paints a shape, and the other tries to copy it before it vanishes.
• Weather watch: paint on a windy day, a cloudy day and a hot day and compare.