Child-friendly Food Colouring Dispensers?

[Guest]

Hello All

I am an occasional visitor to the FSF and know that the regulars are an extra-ordinary fount of knowledge so I'd like to pick your brains please.

 

I try to enable my children to be as independent as possible (essential in a mixed Reception, Year 1 and 2 class) and love to let them make their own gloop, playdough etc. I am struggling with letting them loose with the food colouring!

 

I know that food colouring isn't wildly expensive but in these straightened times my head is questioning our consumption ... and it is frustrating when a whole bottle of has disappeared by 9.15am! Especially as it is not necessarily into the gloop/dough so can't be diluted with more ingredients for more people to share. The question about getting dark green colouring out of very old and porous lino is for another day!!!

 

How do other people manage this? I simply can't afford to have an adult stationed by the playdough/gloop table all day on the off chance that one of my 6 littlies will wander over - and if I did it would take away their independence.

 

I have tried using powder paint but this exacerbated excema in one child. The food colouring paste is really expensive and a little goes a very long way so it is unrealistic for them to use this.

 

All ideas welcome.

Thanks

Emma

[sunnyday]

Hmmm....could you 'pre-load' a little 'dropper' for them?

[Panders]

Let us assume that you have more than one bottle or that you save up your bottles when empty. Could you decant some into one of your bottles so that it is handy, but they don't have access to a whole bottle? If a child turns up and there is no colouring, eventually they would catch on that they could ask for more, or that they could have "colourless" dough or goop and it still does the same things!

[Rea]

Would it work if you diluted it into a sqeezy bottle?

[Guest]

I'd go for the decanting, could be messy though!

 

Might be fun to try getting them to create their own colourings, using natural materials at some point.

 

I know the red one is beetles (cochinneal?) and the blue one I think a plant root (woad?). Sorry my brain is fried right now but I'm sure a quick google would pull up some plants you could use.

[finleysmaid]

you can buy really big bottles of food colouring from TTS ...much more economical.

Chemists also sell small dropper bottles (for oils etc) for less than £1 usually those might be a good option...they are made of glass but then if the children dont use anything that breaks they will never learn not to break things!

[Guest]

Thank you all for your wise words. We have a TTS order going off tomorrow (a tuff spot at last!) so I will investigate bulk food colouring before it goes.

 

Thanks a million.

Emma

[mundia]

I used to use those lttle dropper bottles, like the ones you wuld get eye drops in, annd I also boutght the colouring in bulk.

[trasong]

Hi,

Do you have any staff/children who have babies? One of our members of staff brought in empty infacol bottles they have the dropper and a storage bottle that you can decant into? Just a thought.

Trasong

[Guest]

In the past I've used empty hand wash bottles (The ones with the pressy pump lid- hope you know what I mean coz I'm not sure what they're called!) with diluted food colouring in and taught the kids to use a certain number of 'presses'. This doesn't result in as bright a colour but the kids didn't seem to mind. Also the pump action wotsit is good for developing motor skills.

[fimbo]

we just put jugs of pre coloured water out for them.