I was just deemed “The coolest Mom EVER” by my children. What did I do to get that awesome title? I taught them how to make scratch art paper! This is a fantastic, low cost (no cost if you have crayons and paper at home–which I bet you do) activity the kiddos will love!
When I was in 3rd grade my teacher told us we were going to do one of her favorite things, make scratch art. I had no idea what she was talking about then, but it is so easy to do…and FUN! First take a white piece of paper. To make this a shorter project for my kids as they are ages 3-7, I decided to give them each 1/4 of a regular size paper to speed things up and keep their attention. I placed that white paper on top of another piece of paper so I wouldn’t have crayon all over the place.
Then color (while pressing firm) random colors however you would like!
Then take a black crayon and color over your paper:
You must press hard with your black crayon to get the best coverage and go over it both directions.
You can use black tempra paint to get better coverage but I wanted this to be a “do-it-yourself” project for the kids, and this mama wasn’t going to head the direction of paint. So I just told the kiddos to do their best. They had never seen scratch art before, so they were quite content with this easier but not as beautiful version. Here is what it looks like with tempra paint (again-much better coverage-but no longer DIY for the kids). Weigh it out and you choose what will work best for you!
photo credit: curiouslittlekid.com
Then take a Popsicle stick, skewer or toothpick and scratch out a design on top the of the black paper. The design will pick up the color from behind the black crayon/paint and make a lovely colorful design. It is just plain FUN to do!
My kids were on AWE at this and after making the first one, asked to make another and another. They made scratch art papers for 2 hours straight!
Tomorrow while the kids are at school I am going to try to use some black acrylic paint that is washable (for clean up sake) and see how that turns out. I can handle it a bit better if it is washable from clothes, skin and my kitchen table/floor! 🙂 Have you ever done scratch art before? Let me know if you try this out and how your’s turns out!
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