A Short History Of Face Painting
You will see many kids roaming around fair grounds, children’s parties and carnivals with painted faces. Nowadays, face painting is becoming so popular and it’s almost always that you see face painting booths in every event. Kids like face painting so much that they won’t mind sitting still with their eyes closed just to have their face painted. Face painting is not a new phenomenon; there is a long and rich history of face painting.
Face painting had different significant uses before; warriors and ancient tribes used it either for religious purposes, as camouflage or to separate one tribe from the other. Some of the people who used face painting before were the Chinese, Native Americans, and the Egyptians.
When they’re going to war or face their enemies, warriors used to paint their faces. It was also used to intimidate their enemies or make them tremble in fear. Face painting were also used by some tribes to distinguish themselves from other tribes. Depending on the design and colors, the paintings on their faces imposed different meanings. When they are preparing for war, they would paint their faces in black color, while red stood for war and white is used to show or promote peace.
Face painting was also used by some tribes as camouflage for hunting and for going into battle. They would also use paint from a natural source and design their face or sometimes, even their body with the same color as the surroundings. This would help them hide from their enemies or secretly sneak up on animals they were hunting. Face painting was also used for religious purposes, ceremonies or rituals. There were tribes who believed that it meant powers when you wear certain colors of face paint.
Face painting is not only a fun activity to do for kids at parties, fairs and carnivals; it also has a very colorful history. Far much different from how we’re using it today, face painting back then was rooted on power, tribes, and spiritual beliefs. Face painting invokes no harm in children but it would be much better if you could also explain to them the history of face painting.