Paper Marbling

Art
Time 45 minutes
Age 5-7
Group Size Less than 10
Tags Art, Color, Early Childhood,   more...
Experiment Mixing Observation Paint Paper Patterns Preschool Science Senses Tempera Testing

Make some shaving cream art!

This activity gives children an opportunity to exercise their creativity while using some unexpected materials and media. Children will also be encouraged to learn and use appropriate vocabulary related to methods, materials and techniques.

Preparation

This activity is intended for very young children. For a much more effective and beautiful technique of marbleizing paper, try the Suminagashi activity from this curriculum.

Make a print to familiarize yourself with the process. Teams will be making prints from colored shaving cream—if you think it necessary, you can choose to squirt the shaving cream onto the plates for the students rather than handing out the cans of shaving cream for them to squirt onto the plates themselves. Be certain to purchase foamy white shaving cream (Barbasol is an inexpensive brand), rather than the gel style.

Paper Marbling
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Suggested Materials

  • Large paper or plastic plates (30)
  • Foam shaving cream (5 cans)
  • Food coloring or water-based tempera paint in dropper bottles
  • Craft sticks or straws (60)
  • Copy paper, large index cards or card stock
  • Newspaper (for covering the tables)
1

Make it Matter

Opening Discussion

Ask your students if they have ever seen paper with colorful patterns on it. How did those patterns get on the paper? Tell your students that they will be making their own paper with patterns on it by “marbleizing” plain paper. They can use this paper to make cards, give as gifts, cut shapes out of—anything they would like!

The Challenge

Make your own marbleized paper!

2

Make it Happen

Doing the Activity

  1. Divide your class into teams of 2 for this activity. Each team will need a plate, several pieces of paper, and 5 craft sticks. Teammates will take turns making marbled prints.
  2. Distribute a pile of shaving cream about the size of a small orange onto each team’s plate. Kids should smooth out the shaving cream with a craft stick so that there is about 1 inch of shaving cream covering the plate.
  3. Squeeze a couple of drops each of different food colors all around the shaving cream.
  4. Drag a craft stick or straw through the colored drops on the shaving cream to create patterns with the color. Don’t mix them up too much.
  5. Press a piece of paper onto the colored shaving cream. You’ll need to press down a little bit, but not so hard that the shaving cream oozes off of the plate.
  6. Starting with a corner, lift the paper off of the shaving cream and place it cream-side up on the table. Use a craft stick to scrape off the shaving cream that is stuck to the paper. Return this excess shaving cream to the plate. You should now have a beautiful marbleized piece of paper!
  7. Mix the shaving cream together and smooth it out again with a craft stick. You can now add new coloring and try making another print. You should be able to make 5–10 prints with each batch of shaving cream.
3

Make it Click

Let’s Talk About It

After each student has made a print, bring the whole group together to talk about what they’ve discovered. Did anyone figure out any helpful techniques for making a good print? Why do they think this kind of print is called “marbling” or “marbleizing”? Does it remind them of anything they’ve seen before? This conversation should last no more than a few minutes.

4

Make it Better

Build On What They Talked About

Have your students make a few more prints and experiment with different techniques. Have them try spreading the colors on the shaving cream with toothpicks, straws, craft sticks, spatulas—anything they can think of. Do the different tools make different patterns? Have them experiment to see if they get different results.

Suggestions

  • Try different kinds of paper and different kinds of coloring too. Some papers and/or paints may work better than others.
  • Use the marbleized paper to make cards (see Handmade Cards activity), gift boxes, invitations, etc.
  • Show children a piece of marble and have them compare it to the paper they created. Try to find other similar patterns in objects or nature for them to compare their creations to.
  • Kids can go sort of crazy playing with the shaving cream and the paint—make sure that you are controlling the amount of each that they get. Some teachers have suggested dropper bottles for paint and Dixie cups for distributing the shaving cream. Some brief instruction on how to handle materials might also help (for example, how much mixing is too much—remind kids they need to leave some white on their tray).
  • Some teachers have suggested making “coloring shaving cream” a separate activity. Kids can experiment to see if food color or paint makes the best-colored shaving cream.
  • Make a marbleized paper sample ahead of time so you can show students what their prints might look like.
  • Try foam paint for this activity—it works fairly well.
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