painting flower pots for science and art

[kittie313]

In science we're going to be doing a unit on plants soon, and I am anticipating that the girls will want to PLANT the seeds that we germinate in the "wet paper towel in a jar with some beans" experiment. So I bought a simple red clay flower pot and plate thingie for each girl and was thinking they would like to paint them before we actually do plant in them. What kind of paint do I need for this? Is our water-based tempra paint ok to use for this project or do I want to go down to the hobby store to buy some other kind of paints? I'll be doing the porject on a weekend so that dh can help supervise and assist with it, so non-toxic paints are not a requirement really (although a plus because there are 4 kids and only 2 parents after all, we sometimes have a *little* trouble keeping track of everything at once lol) I want these to last a while without a lot of fading, so that I can use them myself even after the girls lose interest in their bean plants LOL I'm thinking a keepsake of our homeschooling and their youth here.

[fritz]

Will these be indoor plant pots or outdoor ones? If they're staying inside on a sunny windowsill, there will be less weathering than if they're outside. If they'll be outside, though, I'd buy some water-resistant clear sealer. My MIL buys spray cans of the stuff for her crafts, so I know they sell it, but I haven't looked for it, so I'm not sure if you'd have to go to a craft store like Michael's, or if Lowe's/Home Depot would have it.

The tempura paints w/o a sealant coat will definitely wash off. If you don't want to bother with sealant, then I'd recommend getting some acrylic paints instead.

[kittie313]

Thanks I'll look into different paints for the kids to use.

[AAK]

We like using acrylic paints for flower pots. They are pretty inexpensive and come in tons of colors.

Amy