Cyanotype bags with Morrison's first grade- part one

Have you heard of Cyanotype? It is SO cool! There are tons of kits out there- they are usually called "sun prints" but I've found that the paper and color are not always the best quality. Last month I went to a Chuck Close exhibit at the photography museum here in Tampa and they had a little sun print fabric kit in their gift shop.....oh my, fabric opens up a whole new world than just paper! After some research I found a site (www.blueprintsonfabric.com) that sells the fabric already prepared as well as the chemicals so I can make my own Cyanotpye fabric----let the fun begin!

Cyanotype is a photographic process that uses UV light to leave an image. It is pretty straight forward but it gives the kiddos something they don't get enough of with photography today- the PROCESS!!

Mrs. Morrison's first grade class has been studying the sun in their science studies lately so I went into their classroom twice in the past few weeks to work on a Cyanotype project with them.  We darkened the room so the light wouldn't react with our fabric until our designs were complete. First, we gave them wood shapes and sticks. They made their designs using patterns and congruent shape patterns.

         Then we took the pieces outside to be in the sun for at least 20 minutes. You could see the reaction quickly!

 We left them out for a little over 30 minutes. Then we took them inside and rinsed them until the water ran clear. Each child rinsed their own and was able to see the beautiful Indigo color that it became.

        We left them back out in the sun to dry- it was so beautiful seeing them together!!