Play {Tea Painting}

I have something to confess: I have a tea purchasing problem.  I have a whole drawer filled with tea bags.  Rose, mint, sleepy time, lavender - you name it, I've bought it.  What can I say, the polar vortex has brought out my inner tea drinker.  I love the aromatic fragrance that fills my home on cold afternoons. 

Today's Snow Day activity brought about a different kind of tea time.  There were no points for raising your pinky.  Instead, I delivered several different kinds of tea to Chuck in plastic bowls and watched her explore.

At first, she squished the tea bags between her fingers chirping, "Squish, squish, squish!"
Then she picked up the strings, and began to drag the bags across the paper, making swirly whirls. At one point, I caught her with her face in the paper, just taking in the smell of mint, jasmine, and rose. 

We used plain old white paper since it was all I had in the house.  If I were to do this again, I'd probably use watercolor paper.  However, the end result of this project is nothing I plan on keeping in my memory box.  The tea did turn the paper different colors (faint reds, purples, and browns), but as it dried, any hint of color that was there faded. Chuck simply had fun exploring her senses and being a little bit curious.  I could almost see the thought bubbles around her asking "I wonder what would happen if I squished this tea bag above the paper".

By the time she was finished, there was a little bit of a puddle underneath the table, and my home smelled like I just took a tour of Celestial Seasonings.  Not bad for a last minute Snow Day activity!