Painting with Marbles

This is a marble painting we just did with the kids. It's so fresh it's still in the box. This craft was great because it wasn't as messy as many other paint crafts as well as getting a lot of sensory input as well as sensory avoidance. This project doesn't require you to get paint on your hands or fingers. If you look at this picture close near the green dot on the bottom is the marble we used for this particular picture.

Anyhow, here are the steps of how to do this project:

Materials:

Shoe box with a lid that fits your paper

A piece of paper that fits in the box

Paint

Marble(s)

Step #1

The first thing you do is place the paper in the box. If the paper is too big for the box you can push it in or you can trim it to size.

Step #2

Put drops of paint on the paper. My kids love lots of color so we used more than one kid. The drops in these pictures are about the size of a dime. Remember the marbles are going to roll through the paint. Then put the marbles in the box.

Step #3

Close the lid securely and shake. You might want to use tape to keep the lid on. Our box happened to have a flip top lid. If your child can't shake the box hard enough you might need to help. My daughter had a hard time so I had her hit the top of the box while I shook. You can open the box to see what it looks like and if it needs to be shook more.

Step#4

Open the box and carefully take the paper out and put it up to dry.

I have heard of this same project but a pringle can was used. We didn't have any jars like that laying around. It might also be easier for younger kids to do a pringle jar rather than a big shoe box. Another alternative is the roll the jar on the floor or table.