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Aug. 22nd, 2004 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickWhile I was visiting my brother Joe's house yesterday, I spent some time fingerpainting with my nephew Duncan. There have been some changes in fingerpainting technology since I was a kid, and I'm not entirely sure whether the changes are good or bad. First, an overview of The New Way and then a discussion of it, pro and con.
The first thing I noticed was that stuff isn't liquid anymore. While my mom apparently (I have no memory of this but she waxed poetic about it) made liquid, nontoxic finger paints with cornstarch and food coloring some thirty years ago, technology has (as is its wont) marched onward. The world of modern fingerpaint is built on a substance that looks a hell of a lot like paste. It's white, but it's doled out in colored pots, so that you can tell what color you're using. You scoop some of the paste out with your finger, rub it on the special paper, and it makes the paper be whatever color you scooped out.
Here is a picture of modern-day fingerpainting (The other colors DO work, he just liked Red and Orange):
Advantages of The New Way:
It's decidedly non-toxic. Your kid could probably eat the stuff with a spoon if he wanted.
It doesn't stain clothes, skin, desks, or other items that you might not want stained. The color thing only works on the appropriate areas of the special paper.
It's non-spillable because it's a paste. It stays put and doesn't wander if you tip the container upside down or knock it on the floor. (Duncan did both in the space of five minutes.)
Disadvantages of The New Way:
It only works *inside* the appropriate areas of the special paper. Believe me, Duncan isn't nearly as tidy a fingerpainter as the picture above would have you believe. You can't use the paste on regular paper and you can't use it outside-the-lines on the special paper. This is somewhat limiting for one's creativity, though I am not sure how much Duncan was impressed by that. I noticed it inside of ten seconds, but I'm also not a toddler.
It doesn't let you blend or mix colors. The stuff reacts and then it's done. You only get the colors they make for you, no mixing your own. This isn't very educational.
It's time-delayed. There is a distinct lag between when you spread the paste on and when the color appears, which you don't get in regular paint. Regular paint is damn near instant. Maybe this would not have bothered me as much if I'd come to it without painting-like expectations.
Conclusion: I'm a traditionalist when it comes to fingerpaint. However, I'm also not eight months pregnant with a three year old in my house. Perhaps if I were, I would appreciate the benefits of modern fingerpaint technology more.
The first thing I noticed was that stuff isn't liquid anymore. While my mom apparently (I have no memory of this but she waxed poetic about it) made liquid, nontoxic finger paints with cornstarch and food coloring some thirty years ago, technology has (as is its wont) marched onward. The world of modern fingerpaint is built on a substance that looks a hell of a lot like paste. It's white, but it's doled out in colored pots, so that you can tell what color you're using. You scoop some of the paste out with your finger, rub it on the special paper, and it makes the paper be whatever color you scooped out.
Here is a picture of modern-day fingerpainting (The other colors DO work, he just liked Red and Orange):
Advantages of The New Way:
It's decidedly non-toxic. Your kid could probably eat the stuff with a spoon if he wanted.
It doesn't stain clothes, skin, desks, or other items that you might not want stained. The color thing only works on the appropriate areas of the special paper.
It's non-spillable because it's a paste. It stays put and doesn't wander if you tip the container upside down or knock it on the floor. (Duncan did both in the space of five minutes.)
Disadvantages of The New Way:
It only works *inside* the appropriate areas of the special paper. Believe me, Duncan isn't nearly as tidy a fingerpainter as the picture above would have you believe. You can't use the paste on regular paper and you can't use it outside-the-lines on the special paper. This is somewhat limiting for one's creativity, though I am not sure how much Duncan was impressed by that. I noticed it inside of ten seconds, but I'm also not a toddler.
It doesn't let you blend or mix colors. The stuff reacts and then it's done. You only get the colors they make for you, no mixing your own. This isn't very educational.
It's time-delayed. There is a distinct lag between when you spread the paste on and when the color appears, which you don't get in regular paint. Regular paint is damn near instant. Maybe this would not have bothered me as much if I'd come to it without painting-like expectations.
Conclusion: I'm a traditionalist when it comes to fingerpaint. However, I'm also not eight months pregnant with a three year old in my house. Perhaps if I were, I would appreciate the benefits of modern fingerpaint technology more.
