Painting never seems to get old for my kids, but sometimes it’s nice to break out of our routine and try alternative painting techniques and materials.
Sponge Painting fits the bill nicely. What I love about making Sponge Prints is that it’s cheap – all you need to do is use a spare kitchen sponge you have on hand or get a pack of 3 for $1.00 in the dollar Target bins, like we did. And it’s easy – just swap out your regular brush with a sponge. Plus, it’s super-squishy, which means it’s super fun!
Materials
- a kitchen sponge
- paint
- painting surface (e.g., paper, cardboard, etc.)
Jane loved blending several colors together to experiment with different patterns and testing out various angles and amounts of pressure to see what she could come up with.
It was the perfect activity for us to discuss the concept of absorption, which we’ve been doing all week.
We talked about:
- How the color soaked into the sponge
- What happened when she pressed the sponge onto the paper
- Why the sponge could only hold so much paint
- How her prints looked different depending on how much paint was on the sponge or how hard/lightly she pressed down
To extend this activity for some summer fun, try making Sponge Prints with plain water or throwing water-soaked sponges onto an outdoor painting surface, like a wall, sidewalk, fence, or deck. You could also try making Sponge Splatter Prints by dropping paint-soaked sponges onto your paper, too.
What different painting techniques or materials have you and your child tried lately?
Here are some other great posts with fun painting projects for kids:
- Art for Kids: Block Printing – give blocks a new life in printing
- Finger Paint: Homemade Fun – this recipe is safe and non-toxic
- No Mess Monster Craft - an easy but fun monster maker activity
About Chrissy
We also cut some of the sponges up in to different shapes to paint.
That’s a great idea, Becky!
Chrissy:
This is fantastic…great way for kids (and adults) to explore new avenues….especially mentally challenged kids.
May I use this to give them a new avenue and to boost their confidence.
Nice. For children who do not want to mess up their hands, just attack a clothespin behind the sponge for them to hold and print.
How timely, Chitra: I just bought a bag of clothespins the other week and have been waiting to break them out. Thanks for the great suggestion!
This is great – we love sponges and even have sponge paint brushes as our first paint brushes (easy to work with than normal brushes)
I agree – sponge brushes are really easy to use for little hands. Thanks, Cerys.