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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

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Colourful world

Use natural ingredients to create incredible colours, then paint a vibrant picture.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Access to water
  • Paint brushes
  • Something to protect surfaces (for example, newspaper or tablecloths)
  • Natural pigment powders (see instructions)

Before you begin

  • Collect dry, powdered, natural pigments for the group to use as paints. You could include:
    • Turmeric (orange)
    • Mustard (yellow)
    • Spirulina (green)
    • Beetroot (purple)
    • Activated charcoal (black)
  • Separate the natural pigments into pots. You’ll need enough for each small group to have a set of pigments that includes all of the colours.
  • Make sure that everyone’s parents and carers know that you’ll be creating paints from natural pigments. Ask them to tell you if their young person has any allergies you should be aware of.

Story time

  1. Everyone should sit in a circle.
  2. Someone should read Painting with Nature by Jess Connett. This story is about making paint from natural materials.
  3. After reading the story, everyone should take some time to reflect on it as a group. We’ve included some questions to help you reflect in the pink box below.

It was a sunny afternoon in the woodland, and Magali the magpie was washing by the stream.

His beautiful long tail feathers were shining green. The back of his folded wings were a stunning purply-blue. His head was glossy black.

Robbi the robin flew down from her perch.

‘Magali, you are so beautiful,’ she sighed. ‘I wish I looked like you.’

Magali turned to Robbi. ‘But Robbi, I wish I looked like you!’ he said.

‘I wish I could blend into the forest like you do, and your red tummy always puts a smile on people’s faces. People see how bright I am and try to scare me away. It’s not very nice.’

Robbi couldn’t believe it. ‘I wish I could show you how wonderful you look,’ she said.

‘And I wish I could show you how wonderful you look!’ said Magali.

Suddenly, Robbi had an idea. ‘I know! We can paint each other’s picture!’

‘But where will we get the paint?’ asked Magali.

‘We’ll make it ourselves. I know just what we need.’ And with that, Robbi chirped and flew off to find the first ingredient.

She found it close by, in a fire pit where some people had been roasting marshmallows. Amongst the sticks was a piece of black charcoal. She picked it up in her beak and carried it back to the stream.

Robbi showed Magali how to crush the charcoal into a powder and mix it with water to make a paste. The paint was a deep, dark black.

Robbi found all the colours they needed: purple from beetroot, green from spirulina, yellow from mustard, and orange from turmeric.

She felt proud as she carried the turmeric back to the stream, knowing it was the perfect colour for her happy red tummy.

Magali had worked hard too, finding them two sheets of paper and some reeds to use as paint brushes.

When all the pastes were ready, they picked up the reeds in their beaks and began to paint.

‘This was a brilliant idea, Robbi,’ said Magali as he finished the final dab of paint. ‘I’m going to put this picture in a frame and take it back to my nest!’

By Jess Connett


Natural colours

  1. The person leading the activity should split everyone into small groups. Everyone should move to sit with the rest of their group.
  2. The person leading the activity should give each group a set of natural pigments in pots.
  3. Each group should chat about what the powders smell like. What colour paint do they think each pigment will make?
  1. Each group should slowly add water to one of powders and mix it with a paint brush to make a paste.
  1. Each group should repeat step three with their other powders to make a set of paint pastes.
  2. Everyone should chat about whether the powders turned into the paint colour they were expecting. Were there any surprises?

Earth painting

  1. Everyone should get a piece of paper and put it in front of them.
  2. Everyone should look at the paste paints they’ve made and decide what they’d like to paint with them.
  1. Everyone should spend some time using the paste paints to create their own work of art.
  1. Once everyone’s had enough time to finish their paintings, they should take it in turns to show the rest of their small group their pictures.
  2. Every small group should talk about the pictures everyone’s created, how they chose what to paint, and how they used the natural paints.
  3. Everyone should share one thing that they like about each person in their group’s picture.

Reflection

This activity encouraged everyone to explore the textures, colours, and smells of natural pigments as they made a painting for all of the senses. Everyone independently explored their own creative and artistic skills to support their personal wellbeing and self-esteem.

You can talk about the reflection questions below throughout the session or at the end.

Painting with Nature

  • What colours can you remember from the story? People might remember Magali's green tail feathers or Robbi's red tummy.
  • What do you think Magali's feathers feel like? What do you think Robbi's tummy feels like?
  • What do you think the forest looks like? What do you think it smells like?
  • How did Magali and Robbi make their paints?

Natural colours

  • How did the natural materials feel? How did they smell?
  • Everyone started with five different natural paint colours. How could they make new colours?

Earth painting

  • Did people enjoy using the natural paints? Why?
  • How did everyone feel when they were painting?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Chemicals

This task involves the use of potentially harmful fluids or chemicals. Make sure you follow all relevant safety guidance. Make sure you dispose of them appropriately too, in line with safety guidance.

Food

Remember to check for allergies, eating problems, fasting or dietary requirements and adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you’ve suitable areas for storing and preparing food and avoid cross contamination of different foods. Take a look at our guidance on food safety and hygiene.

  • If people are struggling to decide what to paint, you could give them an object (for example, some flowers or a soft toy) to paint.
  • You could give everyone a theme or topic for their painting, for example, zoo animals or plants. You could even give different groups different topics.
  • You could encourage groups to mix colours in separate pots to make new colours. Can they make a rainbow? 
  • People could explore the different textures they can create with their paints. What happens if they add more water to some pastes and less water to others? Does it change how the paints look on the paper?
  • People don’t have to use paint brushes – they could give finger painting a go.  
  • People can use more than one of their senses to explore these paints – they can look, touch, and smell. No one should feel under pressure to explore in a way that makes them uncomfortable. Some people might not want to smell or touch the paints, for example, and that’s OK.
  • Check if anyone has any allergies before you begin. If anyone’s allergic to any of the paints, you’ll need to talk to their parent and carer and find out whether they should stay away from that paint or whether you should keep it out of your meeting space entirely. It’s great if you can find an alternative pigment that makes a similar colour so no one has to miss out.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Squirrels Exciting Experiments Activity Badge

Can people find more things in nature that could be used as natural paints? People could use anything they find to create more artwork or bring it to a future session for everyone to use.

The activity encourages everyone to independently explore their creativity and imagination with fun-smelling, textured, natural paints. Support everyone to engage with the paints in a way that works for them.