Becca, from Surrey, made her own stamps, using beetroot. Let’s take a look at it…
What did you do?
Back in March, we planted beetroot seeds. They appeared to thrive, bring potted on twice before being planted outside. There they continued thriving, leaves growing big and strong. At the weekend, we dug them up and… Nothing. Or next to nothing. No root worth peeling, preparing and eating, they were smaller than cherry tomatoes! I considered making natural dye with them, but I’d barely have made enough to dye a handkerchief so it didn’t seem worth it. However, it did give me the idea to put their juices to work artistically as natural stamps.
I was going to use vegetable cutters to make cute animal shapes from them but they were too small even for that! So I cut them into had simple circles, a square and a triangle, leaving a little of the stem to use as a handle. The plain circles were actually the most interesting as you could see the natural lines where the fluid runs through the root (I don’t know the technical term!) and it made pretty patterns.
The colour was a lot more muted than I expected, based on the way shop-bought beetroots normally stain my hands and chopping boards when I prepare them, but it still looks pretty and is by far my favourite of the art techniques we’ve explored recently. My 2 year old also enjoyed this one, I think he found it quite calming. We talked a lot as we worked, about the colour, the shapes and the patterns.
If we did it again, I would buy raw beetroots, so that I could cut some more varied shapes from them. Farmed beetroots might also have a more vivid colour. The activity could also be done with cooked or pickled beetroots, but you would need to use a cocktail stick, clothes peg or similar to hold the beetroot pieces with to avoid staining fingers.
Do you have any other projects planned?
We are currently spending the month working through activities themed around a letter of the alphabet each day. Today we have explored the letter F, with a foil wrapped puzzle, feather threading and (shaving) foam ice cream parlour themed messy play.
Tell the Housebound With Kids community a bit about yourself…
I am Becca, a drama teacher on a career break to raise the children. I have a two and a half year old son and a 7 month old baby girl. We currently live in Surrey.
@adventuresofbobbinandbunny
How are you finding being housebound so far?
We are fortunate to live in the countryside, so have been able to spend a lot of time outdoors. My son has really missed social interaction with other little children. He had only started nursery three months before the lockdown, so it was a real shame to take that away from him again.
Do you have any tips for other parents?
The activities you see online? They usually only form a small part the blogger’s day. Don’t feel pressure to be doing pretty, educational or exciting things all the time. We all have a good dose of free play time. I’m also not averse to television in moderation, I just curate what they watch so it’s not mindless stuff.
Has this website and community helped you?
I’m glad to have discovered another place to harvest ideas from!
