This Marvelous Marble Painting activity is one that I used back in my teaching days. I have never done it with three year olds but decided my kids might find this art project fun. Would you believe I had the hardest time finding the marbles? I thought for sure the dollar store would have them, but they did not. So if you already have marbles at home, you are ahead of the game! Also check out our Painting with Feathers activity.
Marble Painting
You will need:
- Baking pan
- Paint
- White paper cut to fit inside the pan
- Tape
- Marbles
You will want to tape your paper to the bottom of the pan. I am sure there are many different ways to paint with the marbles, but here is what I did. Be sure to check out Painting with Golf Balls as well. I squirted different colors of paint onto the paper and dropped in some marbles (I believe I used 4 in each tray). It would be fun at another point to experiment with the number of marbles in a tray and see how it changes the results of the marble painting.
"A" wanted yellow and blue paint on her tray.
Once your marbles are dropped in, have your child rock the tray back and forth to get the marbles to move and paint the paper.
Later, A discovered that she could tilt the tray up and down to get lines going in different directions on her paper.
I love this action shot of B. Who knew this marble painting activity provided such a workout?
A really wanted to work with green paint. I did not have any out, but explained that we could make green by mixing yellow and blue. And just like that we are learning about color mixing. Thanks for the great idea A! I dropped some yellow and blue paint on her paper and gave her some marbles.
She was quite proud of the resulting green!
Our finished marble painting:
My final verdict is that this marvelous marble painting was just perfect for three year olds and might even work with two year olds. But you know your child best. I did not have C participate, because at 20 months, she still puts everything in her mouth and I was concerned that the marbles would be a choking hazard. Please use caution when doing this art activity with a child.
The girls loved discovering a new way to paint and I'm just thankful that I didn't lose my marbles.
Lori @ La-La's Home Daycare
Whoo Hoo that was fun! We haven't tried this out yet! I have the marbles finally, just haven't done it! Cute Cute!
learning table
This looks like fun! Next time we head outside, we'll have to try this project. Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'm following you back.
🙂
Jessica @ Nuchey's Mommy
Hi Vicky! what a great idea, my son who is 5 would even love this 🙂 Anything to make a mess & have it contained in a dish works for me! Thanks for sharing & thank you for visiting my site & barn doors!
Daneilia @ Anchors Away
Oh how I remember these days lol. Gosh that just makes me sound old. But this was one of my fave projects when I was young. I may attempt to try this with my 2year old...I think she is capable of having fun w/out eating paint or messing with the marbles lol ("I think", its not a guarantee haha). Love this.
Tiffany
Great idea, I four kids who would love this! Thanks for stopping by my blog. : )
Sandra Appling
What a great idea! Painting with little mess and lots of fun!!
Cricket @ Thrifty Texas Penny
Such a fabulous idea! I bet my 3 yr old (almost 4) would love it. Now following from the Tiggerific Tuesday hop (yes I know it's already Saturday LOL)
Shoregirl
Looks like a lot of fun -- great art lesson too!
Jessica @ TheCrazyChaoticHouse
Looks like they had lots of fun. Thanks for sharing. I will for sure have to try this with my 3 year old;)
Heidi
Can't wait for mine to be this big so I can do this fun stuff with her. Thanks for stoping by my blog. I'm a new follower
Joyce
It looks like they had a blast! I love that action shot too. I hear other bloggers complaining about a shortage of marbles as well. I think they are only trully abundant around Christmas, I guess for stocking stuffer usage. Videogames killed the marble star. Or something.
Poppy
Hi Vicky, I remember doing marble painting as a kid... we used to dip plain white T-shirts to get the marble effect on it... used to be a lot of fun... first step in creativity... lol!I bet your three old had oodles of fun with it...what an excellent idea to share with kids as well as inspire them to explore their creative side! I feel so flattered by your endearing comment on my Fall Luminaries. Really enjoyed and appreciated you stopping by.Thank you so much for following me. Will love to have you over anytime. Have a wonderful weekend with your family!Happily following you back~Poppy
EmilyM
It looks like your girls had fun with this project too. I love the action shot you got. We are going to have to try multiple marbles next time we do this. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Vicky
@ Lisa, Thanks so much, they did!
@ daycaresillies, sounds like a great excuse for me to order a pizza!
@ Emily, thanks for stopping by!
Anonymous
We LOVE to marble paint and babies, toddlers and preschoolers, OH MY! My kiddos get all wild and crazy with this so I actually have saved pizza boxes that way I have a lid so marbles and paint don't go flying!
Lisa
What an awesome hands-on project! Looks like they had a great time! 🙂
Many blessings,
Lisa