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Holiday help! An art expert suggests screen-free things to do in every room of the house
Article source:https://theconversation.com/holiday-help-an-art-expert-suggests-screen-free-things-to-do-in-every-room-of-the-house-202947
School holidays can feel like a marathon if all the kids want to do is watch TV, play Minecraft or repeatedly ask you for the iPad.
There are lots of things you can do inside the house that do not involve a screen. And will help ward off any whines along the lines of: “I’m booooooored”.
In a previous piece I talked about how to set up an art studio at home. This time, here are five creative ideas to try in every room of the house.
In the kitchen: make your own paint
Kids enjoy making potions in the garden by adding dirt and flowers and you can have similar fun in the kitchen making paint from ingredients in the cupboard.
Paint is made with pigment and a binder. The first paint on cave walls was made with charcoal, ochre, minerals mixed with water, saliva, blood, animal fat and even wee. The history of paint is fascinating and kids are intrigued by the stories, like how a certain purple (tyrian) comes from the glands of sea snails and how a type of yellow was cruelly made from cow wee, after forcing them to eat mango leaves.
You can make your own paint with spices like turmeric, curry powder and cinnamon or hunt through the house for chalk and eye shadow for a variety of colours.
