Mess for Less

Kids Activities, Kids Crafts and Family-Friendly Recipes

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • breakfast
    • lunch
    • Dinner
    • Dessert
    • Snacks
    • Appetizers
    • Crock Pot
    • Cooking with Kids
  • Crafts
    • Winter
    • spring
    • Summer
    • fall
  • Art
    • Paint
  • Play and Fun
    • Baby and Toddler
    • Preschool
    • Elementary
    • party
    • Sensory
    • Motor Activities
      • Fine Motor Skills
  • Learning Activities
    • literacy
    • Math
    • science
  • Family & Home
    • Family
    • frugal
    • Travel
    • Pets
  • parenting
    • Behavior
    • School
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. In addition, we participate in affiliate/referral programs whereby we link to products we believe in. If you click on the link and make a purchase we receive a small percentage commission. Read the full disclosure here.

Sensory Art with Cotton Balls

February 16, 2015 By Vicky 1 Comment

Pin1K
Share
Tweet
Yum
Share
1K Shares
So many of my projects are inspired by things I find at the dollar store. On a recent trip, I bought a bag of cotton balls. I had no idea why, but I knew that if I thought hard enough, I could think of a kids activity that would use them. I wanted to dye the cotton balls to make them more interesting and because we had such success with dying q tips in the past. I used a similar technique and the kids added their colorful cotton to contact paper to create beautiful Sensory Art with Cotton Balls. For more ways to have with contact paper check out 20 Ways to Use Contact Paper with Kids.
Sensory Art with Dyed Cotton - Such a fun way to create touchable art!
To dye cotton balls you will need:
  • Cotton balls
  • Plastic cups
  • Liquid watercolors
  • Paper plate
  • Tongs


how to dye cotton balls
Allow a day between dying the cotton balls and creating the art. They need some time to dry.
Mix a few drops of liquid watercolor with some water in a small plastic cup.
liquid watercolors
Dip the cotton ball in the liquid watercolor. You can use tongs to turn it over to make sure it is completely saturated with liquid watercolor.
child dying cotton balls
Using the tongs or your fingers (you will need to wash them well afterwards) squeeze the excess liquid from the cotton balls back into the cup. Set the cotton balls in a sunny place to dry. Ours took a day to dry. If yours are taking longer to dry, try separating the cotton to make the balls thinner.
dying cotton balls
When the balls are dry, pull them apart to create what looks like cotton candy. Cut some contact paper and tape it to a work surface.

 

dyed cotton
Kids can use the colored cotton to create pictures.
kids making sensory art
One of my daughters made a nature scene complete with flower, sun, sea and grass.
art with dyed cotton
My youngest made an ice cream cone. My kids could not get over how much the colored cotton resembled cotton candy.

 

colored cotton
When they were finished with their pictures, they removed the colored cotton, and stamped the contact paper with it. The contact paper would grab bits and pieces of the colorful cotton making a beautiful effect.

 

sensory art

 

kids art using cotton balls
This activity is a fun way for kids to make sensory art. My daughter could not stop feeling her artwork as she just loved the texture.

 

The kids called their creations “fuzzy art” and proceeded to make a gallery to display their creations.
My three kids ended up putting their pieces together to create a large wall of sensory art that they can touch whenever they walk by.

 

For more ways to use contact paper with kids check out:
         DIY Shape Stickers                         Contact Paper Crafts with Q-Tips
  

Want more Mess?
Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Google+

Vicky

Pin1K
Share
Tweet
Yum
Share
1K Shares

Filed Under: art, Sensory

« St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Craft
Kitchen Chores for Kids »

Comments

  1. Jen M says

    March 3, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    Vicky,

    Thank you for this, as a Daycare in Langley, we are continually looking around trying to come up with great new fun ideas that the kids will like and we just found another great idea here! We love the use of the cotton balls, the colours and can only imagine the engagement it will create.

    Thank you!

    Jennifer
    Rainforest Daycare Langley

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Hi, I'm Vicky, founder and content creator at Mess For Less. If you are looking for play and learning activities for kids, kid friendly food, parenting tips and general family fun, you will find it at Mess For Less. I invite you to learn more about me or drop me a note. Thanks for stopping by!
About · Advertise · Contact· Disclosures/Privacy

Popular Posts

  • Keto Crack Chicken in the Crock PotKeto Crack Chicken in the Crock Pot Are you looking for Keto crock pot recipes that you can serve to the whole family? You never want…
  • 2 Ingredient Weight Watchers Bagels2 Ingredient Weight Watchers Bagels If you are on a weight loss program, you probably thought bagels were off-limits and normally you'd be right.…
  • The BEST Sausage, Egg and Biscuit Breakfast CasseroleThe BEST Sausage, Egg and Biscuit Breakfast Casserole Maybe you are like me, a busy mom who doesn't have a lot of time in the morning. But…

Archives

Categories

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work. Others help us improve your user experience (e.g., by providing relevant advertising) or to allow us to track user behavior & patterns. AcceptPrivacy Policy