• My kids enjoy painting. Sadly the activity doesn’t last as long as I wish it did. Perhaps it’s because I let them do it too often, so it is no longer a novelty. So to keep things fresh I like to try other painting methods or techniques. You know, to keep things interesting. Last week we tried shake painting. It is a pretty easy (and more importantly clean) painting activity. For each child doing the craft you need an old lidded container. We used empty coffee cans. They are easy to come by around here. Put a piece of paper in each can. You want the paper to go around the inside of the can, and not be folded up. Drip in a few dollops of paint followed by a marble or two. Close the lids and let your kids shake, shake, shake.

    The marbles hit the paint then roll around the paper as you shake your cans creating cool designs on your papers. Try not to add too much paint or you just end up with a super saturated piece of paper. Take your papers out and let them dry, then repeat the whole process again.

    My kids loved seeing the streak of paint especially when two colors collided with each other creating a new color. Not a bad activity to reinforce this concept. Each of my kids, ages two, four, and seven, were content with this activity for a good solid hour or two. My favorite part is that it requires very little set up and minimal supervision. I was able to be in the same room getting things done while they painted.

    After a while we began to add other objects besides marbles to see what the outcome would be. We chose a cotton ball, a few coins, and a small toy, which of course was their idea.