Colorful Summer Sandals
[40 Minutes]
Rock paintings from the late Paleolithic period show humans wearing animal skins as foot coverings. Because animal skins tended to rot away quickly, the thong or toe strap footwear evolved. The Egyptians used papyrus to make sandals; the African Masai, used rawhide; the Chinese used rice and straw, and in India wood was used. Although sandal design has not changed much over the years, the material has! Transform modern day sandals into a work of art.
You'll need:
• vinyl sandals (found in department stores or use an old pair) they can be smooth or have grooves and stripes on them • acrylic enamel paint in various colors such as purple, pink, white, orange, and lime green • fabric paints • paintbrush • comb (if you wish) • rag
What to do:
- If possible, print out these directions. Read them through with your child before you begin.
- With your child, gather everything you’ll need.
- Wash and dry the sandals.
- Together, choose colors and follow these suggestions for painting your sandals:
If the sandals are textured, follow the texture of the sandal to make your own design.
Or try this: paint the entire top of each sandal one color and let dry.
Paint stripes of two other colors. Let dry.
Paint dots or checks on the solid colors.
To makes dots: Dip the handle of a paintbrush in the paint and dot onto the surface of the sandals.
- To make stripes with vertical lines:
Let your child paint the base any color she wishes.
Let the paint completely dry so the paint does not scratch off.
Paint another color over the base.
Help your child pull a comb over the wet second color paint to take away some of it away and let the base color show through.
Wipe off the comb between each pass of the comb.
- Fabric paint can also be used. It is thicker and works well for making a distinctive texture.
Let's Talk: Ideas to Explore Together.
- Why do you think people first started to wear sandals?
- When do you wear sandals? Why do you wear them?
- Which colors should we use to decorate the sandals?
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