With Fall among us we've been doing all sorts of leaf activities. We took the kids on a little nature walk to collect leaves so we can do our leaf rubbing art. You know, where you put the leaf under a piece of paper then rub the top with crayons. Still to this day, I love to watch the outline of the underlying leaf emerge. It's like magic.
We tried a new activity by taking a piece of tagboard cut in the shape of a leaf then painted orange Karo syrup on it. When it dries it has the appearance of a shiny shellack coating. It's rather amazing.
The kids had fun with the syrup, smearing it, getting sticky and actually tasting it at the same time. Once they were done, we set their masterpieces on a counter to dry.
A few hours later, after the children have long since gone, we noticed one of the Karo coated leaves were infested with ants. Little micro-tiny black ants. Where they came from, we have no idea. We've never had a problem with ants before and we use all kinds of food based activities for artwork and sensory exploration.
What once were masterpieces of art are now trash, as I couldn't throw those away fast enough. I Bundled them up in a plastic garbage bag then out of the classroom they went.
There were a few late comers to the leaf party looking to take part in the sweet syrup, but were soon eliminated with a squish of my finger.
Hopefully, after the custodian sprays we'll be rid of those pesky ants for good and, will have learned a lesson in Karo syrup art.
Friday, November 9, 2012
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