Marbleized Prints

We had messy fun with shaving cream and paint today at Play Group. This activity is best for preschool children and older. The younger children still enjoyed the sensory experience but some weren't all ready to use a medium they shouldn't put in their mouth. After the children were done with their hands-on experience parents enjoyed pressing the paper and creating a marbleized print from the materials on their child's tray.

You will need:
Trays
Shaving cream
Tempera Paint
Fork, stick or other stirring device
Scraper (we used a thick piece of paperboard)
Stiff art paper or card stock
A large bin to scrape used shaving cream into

Begin by applying a base of shaving cream on a tray and sprinkle different colors of tempera paint onto the shaving cream.

Provide an object to mix the paints and shaving cream together. We used forks and large craft sticks.

When the artist is finished swirling and ready to make a print, press the piece of paper onto the shaving cream paint mixture. Remove and place dry side down. Scrape the shaving cream mixture with a scraping object. We then scraped this mixture off the scraper into a bin and were able to reuse the scraper for the next print. 

We tried a plastic putty scraper and a thick piece of paperboard (from the end of an art paper pad). The paperboard worked best clearing the paint more evenly, probably because it is slightly absorbent.
One little artist fell onto the paint tray. We provided a fresh smock and took a print off the apron!

Children can continue printing papers from the same mixture, swirling more to create a different effect, or adding more shaving cream and paint to change the look in a more substantial way.

Clean up is also easier than you would think since the paint is mixed with a soap like mixture.