Popsicle Water Color Painting

Are your kids as messy as mine are when it comes to watercolor painting? Mine always seem to forget to rinse the brush after each color change and the watercolors get all mixed together, forming only one color--brown. To solve this problem, I decided to try the following idea. It worked out great, and my kids had a blast doing it too.

First, I filled an ice cube tray with water, then added food coloring to the different slots (be sure not to overfill so that the colors stay separated). I dropped a Popsicle craft stick into each section to use as a handle. I then tossed the tray in the freezer. The next day, we popped the cubes out of the ice tray, ran each cube under cold water for a moment to wet the surface, and had a fabulous time using these Popsicles as watercolors.

The craft stick handles were easy for my littles ones to grasp, and because each color was on a separate stick, there was no need to remember to rinse between color changes. My kids also loved that they got to paint with ice cubes, which were so icy cold between their fingers. When they were done, I refilled the ice cube tray with water and re-froze what was left of the colored ice on the stick in the new water for another time.