Blogger / 7 December, 2022 / Nanny Anita

Red Cabbage Christmas Painting Activity

During October I saw this awesome Instagram post on painting using turmeric mixed with hand gel over some bicarbonate of soda mixed with water.  It had this reaction between the two solutions that made the colour brighter over the bicarbonate of soda.  This got me thinking about what would happen if you painted using red cabbage water! Well, actually a lot happens.  After testing out I turned it into a red cabbage Christmas painting activity.

Make sure you follow my Christmas board on Pinterest for more ideas.  Don’t forget to save the pin for later.

To do your own red cabbage Christmas painting activity you will need:

• Red cabbage
• Saucepan
• Water
• Bicarbonate of soda
• Lemon juice
• Vinegar
• Hand sanitizer
• 3 jars
• Paper
• Paintbrushes

You can either boil your cabbage and keep the coloured water, or you can put your cabbage in a blender with some water and blend it together, then use a sieve to separate the cabbage from the water.   The water that we didn’t use, I turned into potion making.

In a jar mix some water and bicarbonate of soda.  In the other jars I add some lemon juice, hand sanitizer, and vinegar .

On your paper paint the background with the red cabbage juice.

When that part has dried, use lemon juice, vinegar, hand sanitizer, and bicarbonate solution to paint your picture over the red cabbage juice.  Depending on whether you are using an acid or an alkaline you will get different shades of red, pink, and green.  This red cabbage Christmas painting is a great mix of art and science.  It makes me think of those magic pens that change colour when you use the special pen over the top.

The only thing you need to remember is not to mix the separate mixtures together in the jars, or it will ruin the red cabbage water.

If you enjoyed doing this red cabbage Christmas painting, be sure to check out my kitchen roll Christmas stamping activity and spirograph decorations.

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