I’m still coming to terms with the start of a new year. Our walls and doors are looking rather bare now that the Christmas decorations have been stored away for next year. So we’re decorating them up for Valentine’s Day! This year we’ve decided to try our hands at some homemade scratch art cards.
Tristan and Kallista love to use oil pastels, so they were keen to get started and put crayon to card stock. At first they just wanted to draw a nice picture on their papers. I kept telling them to fill their paper with colour…
So decided to have some fun and make one, too! You’re never too old for scratch art. I also thought it would be a good idea to show the children how to do it and why their papers needed to be full of colour. They hadn’t seen scratch art before and didn’t understand what was going to happen.
Their oil pastel drawings were very colourful.
Then it was time to cover their drawings with paint.
Note: I added a few drops of liquid dish soap to some ready-mixed paint (affiliate link) in a bowl for this project.
Kallista used a sponge brush (affiliate link) and Tristan used a brush. The sponge worked slightly better than the brush to get a thick and even coverage.
I had sampled a small section on a paper with both wet drawing and dry scratching. The scratching was ok, but the paint flaked off as well so that the lines weren’t exact. Both children decided they’d rather not wait for their paint to dry so they used Q-tips/cotton buds to lift the paint from their pictures and reveal the colourful oil pastels (affiiate link) below.
They really enjoyed this project and asked to make another card right away. This time they tried to use red paint. If you use light coloured oil pastels underneath, then it’s not so bad, but darker colours show through the paint, and the final effect isn’t as striking as when black is used.
The children were creating each card for someone special, and they still want to make more. This is one project we’ll be coming back to again and again.
We’ve collaborated with some members of the Kid Blogger Network for this Kindergarten Unit Study Blog Hop. Below you’ll find many more friendship & Valentine’s Day themed activities. Relax with a cup of tea and have a look through them.
- Q-tip hearts from Our Whimsical Days
- Cardboard Hearts Hand Eye Coordination from Sugar Aunts
- Love Heart Number Bonds to Ten by Adventures of Adam
- Kindergarten Valentine’s Day Activities from Something 2 Offer
- Valentine’s Day Initial Sound Matching Activity by Play & Learn Everyday
- Kindergarten Valentine’s Day Reading List and Story Extension by Crafty Mama in ME
- Kindergarten Perfect Valentines Experiment by Thriving STEM
- Heart Shaped Fairy Bread by Kidz Activities
- Printable Valentine Coloring Book Pictures from Sight and Sound Reading
- Gross Motor TBD by Tiny Tots Adventures
- Couscous Hearts by Squiggles and Bubbles
I remember doing this in school! We used to cover the colors with a black crayon but I like the paint version better!
We used a black crayon is school, too! I thought I’d try something a bit different this time, but we’ll also be doing the ‘classic’ version later on as well.
This is a great project! I’m gonna try it this week 🙂
Fantastic! I must say that I enjoyed sitting down and creating with the kids for this. Enjoy 🙂
I used to do a similar activity when I was younger but we covered the picture in black wax crayons. This method is much easier and looks more effective.
Yes, this is faster than the ‘old-school’ method. We’ll be doing a comparison later on to see which way the kids prefer.
Have a great weekend!
Pastels are going on my list to add to our craft collection! Thanks for this idea.
They’re great to have in your craft closet! They’re easy to use, and the colours are so vibrant. Have fun!
This is awesome! I had no idea there was a way to make these at home. I think I may experiment with my kids and then bring it into my preschool classroom. Thanks for the great tips!
That sounds like a great idea, Amy 🙂 Have loads of fun!
I loved scratch art cards when I was a kid! Black paint seems like it would be so much easier than the traditional black crayon method. And the Q-tips are a great idea too so there’s no waiting. I look forward to trying this with my son when he’s a bit older!
The Q-tips do mean that you don’t have to wait for the paint to dry, and you can reapply the paint again if you want to start over!