This no-mess version of marbled painting was quick, easy, and inexpensive to make! Plus, it kept the girls occupied all morning while we experimented with different paint color combinations!
Both of the girls loved the way they could move the paint and swirl the colors all around without getting their hands dirty!
To make your own, you will need a heavy-duty ziplock bag (make sure it is heavy-duty, don’t skimp here!), some water-soluable paint (washable paint works fine, as do liquid watercolors), some baby oil, and packaging tape.
To the (heavy-duty) ziplock bag, I added the baby oil first, then the water-soluble paint in about a 1:1 ratio. I didn’t measure it, just eyeballed it. We used two colors of paint in each bag, and I even added some glitter to one of the bags, just for fun! Gently let as much air out as possible, then seal up the bag very well. Use packaging tape along the top of the bag to seal it up completely.
To make the bags a little more sturdy, I added some frames I made up using a couple of file folders from the dollar store! I taped the bags to the inside of the file folder frames using some more packaging tape.
While we’re not afraid of messy art in this house, I have to admit it was nice not having anything to clean up this time!
Have fun!!
I linked this post to:
Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog
Works for Me Wednesday
August 5th, 2010 on 1:36 pm
Dear Valerie,
I have to admit, I am surprised that we even had baby oil in the house…. are you trying to tell me something?
Love,
Mark
August 5th, 2010 on 1:39 pm
It was a pretty small bottle, and I think it’s been under the bathroom sink for a couple of years now.
And also, are you INSANE????? I’m already out-numbered as it is!
August 5th, 2010 on 1:42 pm
Ohhh excellent idea! Will do this, definitely
(I’m totally outnumbered, too- 3 to 1 hehe )
August 5th, 2010 on 4:26 pm
Great! Your little ones will really enjoy this!! Have fun!!
August 5th, 2010 on 2:15 pm
I’d say Mark is outnumbered, but I see where you are going with this
I think this is even more fun than just tracing bags with one color – adding it to my “to do” list.
August 5th, 2010 on 4:27 pm
It really is! And the colors stay separated really nicely. My girls “painted” with them all day!!
August 5th, 2010 on 2:17 pm
I like the addition of glitter.
August 5th, 2010 on 4:29 pm
Messy art doesn’t scare us, but I have to say glitter is where I draw the line!! It gets into EVERYTHING!!! Emily loves it, but I hardly ever bring it out. This was a really nice compromise for us! Have fun!!
August 5th, 2010 on 2:24 pm
Oh, I am definitely doing this. I would love to make up a bunch of these and give them to the kids at my next story hour. Hmmmmm…. Maybe. I like the addition of glitter too.
August 5th, 2010 on 4:30 pm
That is a great idea!!! It would be the most awesome story hour EVER!! They are super-fast to make up, so I’m sure you could have a batch made up in no time.
August 5th, 2010 on 2:36 pm
Love it! We will try this too. The “no mess” idea is great!
Tricia
August 5th, 2010 on 4:32 pm
Yay!!!
August 5th, 2010 on 3:21 pm
How do you do it? You seem to come up with the most marvellous ideas day after day- another thing to add to my list!
August 5th, 2010 on 4:38 pm
That’s so sweet, Deanne, thank you!
I really don’t have a secret, but I confess that most of my ideas seem to come from never really growing up! I would have LOVED something like this when I was a kid, but I get to enjoy these things with my girls now and for that I am extremely grateful. I love focussing on these moments of our day, even if they only last for a few minutes, it’s worth it!
Have fun!!
August 5th, 2010 on 3:48 pm
What a great idea. I love how clean it is!
August 5th, 2010 on 4:02 pm
A fantastic idea…again! Thank you.
August 5th, 2010 on 4:23 pm
oo Love this! Added this to the list of activities to try!
August 5th, 2010 on 4:34 pm
Great idea. Love it. Putting this in the file for a possible project at our upcoming art party.
August 6th, 2010 on 1:27 pm
Oooo… it would be perfect for an art party! Have fun!
August 5th, 2010 on 6:13 pm
My girls give it a thumbs up!!
August 5th, 2010 on 6:29 pm
Love this idea! I wouldn’t have thought to use a frame support! nice touch
Going to try this with the kiddos this week !
August 6th, 2010 on 1:27 pm
Yay!! That’s fantastic!!
August 5th, 2010 on 6:44 pm
Very nice adaptation of the classic “paint in a ziploc bag”! Does the baby oil keep the colors from mixing?
August 5th, 2010 on 8:28 pm
Yes, the baby oil does a good job of keeping the colors from mixing, as long as you use water-soluble paint. Have fun!
August 5th, 2010 on 7:21 pm
You have no idea how fabulous this idea is for my toddler who LOVES to fingerpaint and for me who does NOT love the clean-up. This one goes to the top of my list! Thanks!
August 6th, 2010 on 1:28 pm
You’re welcome! It was a big hit with everyone here!
August 5th, 2010 on 7:44 pm
I love this and this is something that all my kids will love to do!
August 5th, 2010 on 7:53 pm
I love the way the colors blend so smoothly!
August 5th, 2010 on 9:05 pm
Idea: what if you squirted the paint onto a piece of cardstock, then put plastic wrap over it and taped all the edges? Then it could be cleanly swirled around, and you could peel the plastic off to let it dry into more permanent art. Might be a fun variation! (Or then again, it might not marble well…)
August 6th, 2010 on 1:29 pm
It’s definitely worth a try!
August 5th, 2010 on 10:14 pm
Just found your blog and love it. We did something similar to this not long ago-we’re not afraid of messy art here either, but it’s nice to have non-messy stuff some days too!
I added your button to my blog (bottom right column of every page
)
August 6th, 2010 on 8:36 pm
So glad you stopped by, and thanks so much for adding our button to your blog! I really appreciate it! xoxo
August 5th, 2010 on 11:23 pm
That is really cool! I so have to figure out a way to do this. I wonder if you could use it for handwriting practice?
August 5th, 2010 on 11:37 pm
OH my gosh. This is so cool. We are still so busy trying to get our house in order that I feel like art time with my little man has taken a very back seat. But, this we could so easily do and NO CLEAN UP. You are my hero!
August 6th, 2010 on 1:29 pm
Perfect!! You guys will have a blast!!
August 6th, 2010 on 12:41 am
I like this idea. Does it dry? Did you hang it up? I want to make one myself when the kids aren’t here. LOL.
August 6th, 2010 on 1:30 pm
It has a nice zen-like quality to it! It doesn’t dry, they just like swirling the paint around with their fingers.
August 6th, 2010 on 6:40 am
It’s a great idea!!
August 6th, 2010 on 9:46 am
That is a fabulous idea
I was just thinking, if you want to take the label off of the ziploc baggie, you can use rubbing alcohol and it should wipe off nicely. Thanks for the idea.
August 6th, 2010 on 1:31 pm
Great tip!!
August 6th, 2010 on 9:52 am
WOW…this looks like so much fun! We have to do this! I’ll let you when we do!
August 6th, 2010 on 1:31 pm
Perfect!! Hope you guys have lots of fun!
August 6th, 2010 on 4:27 pm
can i use olive oil, dont have any baby oil
August 6th, 2010 on 8:35 pm
Olive oil will work well too! Have fun!!
August 6th, 2010 on 8:26 pm
We did this at a baby class once. I was so bowled over by it that I bored people with it for ages. It works well for babies as it is clean (of course) and it is novel for them, as they don’t have much opportunity to play with paint. I hadn’t thought of doing it with the older girls. Thanks for reminding me of a great activity.
August 7th, 2010 on 1:04 am
Wow, this looks like so much fun. Love the frames you made for them. And great for teaching about combining colours too.
August 9th, 2010 on 2:00 am
Dear Valerie,
I am an art teacher from Israel and I just LOVE your Blog !!
I got many Ideas from them.
Thank you very much.
Keep on with your ideas…
Ronit
August 9th, 2010 on 10:45 pm
Yay!!! That makes me so happy!!!
August 9th, 2010 on 8:26 pm
I may use this as a sensory activity in therapy. We do paint and messy stuff in baggies, but I have never added the oil to have the swirly dual color effect.
Tonya
August 9th, 2010 on 10:44 pm
That’s a great idea!
August 10th, 2010 on 6:24 pm
I love this idea. We tried this and it worked great using veggie oil. I would use a fine glitter as the stuff I had on hand was a courser variety and caused punctures in the baggie. But it was still fun.
August 12th, 2010 on 9:18 am
Good point — I didn’t think about fine glitter, great idea! So glad you had fun!!
August 11th, 2010 on 3:27 am
Such a great idea! I’ll try this today with my 3 yr old (although he prefers REALLY messy activities!)
August 12th, 2010 on 9:19 am
LOL What 3 yr old doesn’t enjoy getting messy? I’m so happy you’ll be giving this a try — it’s fun!!
August 12th, 2010 on 5:03 pm
What a wonderful idea! I’m definitely trying this the next chance I get. Just stumbled on your blog and I LOVE it!
August 14th, 2010 on 10:40 pm
Yay!! Welcome, Lua! So happy you found us here!
August 13th, 2010 on 3:51 pm
What a great distraction for young minds to explore. You had me a no mess!
August 14th, 2010 on 10:40 pm
LOL That’s great!!
August 16th, 2010 on 3:19 am
Thank you for the idea!
It looks like a good travel game too. If the zipped bags are already on a board and framed.
have a good summer!
August 27th, 2010 on 9:16 am
We did this last night and LOVED it! How fun. We will be doing it at our art party in September. Great idea.
August 31st, 2010 on 5:54 am
We tried this a few days ago. Worked PERFECT! My kids loved it. I am going to use it again at our art party on September 18th. Thanks for all the great ideas. I gave you props in my post about it.
September 4th, 2010 on 8:01 pm
Hi – love this idea, I’m having as much fun swirling the paint around as the kids are! My colours are mixing after a little while though – could this be because I’m using too much / too little oil? I’m using readymix paint. Thanks
September 11th, 2010 on 2:17 pm
I love this idea. I had planned on a similar project for color mixing with my playgroup. The baby oil is a great and I will do this one too! Thanks! Following you on Twitter and FB. Love all the blogs I keep finding! Keep up the great work!
September 26th, 2010 on 3:29 pm
I am a preschool teacher and we do something similar to this in our center. Actually in the infant room they have clear contact paper on the floor sandwiched with paint/oil in the middle of another clear contact paper and then the whole 3′ x 5′ thing is sealed to the floor with clear packing tape. The babies love crawling on it, and the parents love messing with it too! I have a permanent one on one of my walls in the art area. It gets played with every day! I love this version as it is so portable. Thanks for sharing.
October 8th, 2010 on 6:35 am
Do you think it would work with vegetable oil? I used all my baby oil to make a wave bottle (http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com/2009/11/tot-school.html – scroll down to see the wave bottle). Guess I’ll just try the canola and see if it works.
February 18th, 2011 on 10:43 pm
Fantastic! Bookmarked it and can’t wait to try it out!! Thanks
July 27th, 2011 on 6:30 am
Lovely, thanks a lot, can I use plastic sealed bag that we use for sandwiches ???