DIY Marbled Paper with Shaving Cream

Art with the kids this week for homeschool was DIY marbled paper! And, oh my, was it fun! This craft offers up vivid colors, awesome designs, and the perfect excuse to play with shaving cream! Who wouldn't love that?! Seriously! Kids and adults alike will love this marbling technique that creates ripples of bright, beautiful colors with a little shaving cream and a whole lot of fun!

Before letting the kids dive into this paper marbling project, I tested it out with various supplies and techniques to come up with what I consider to be the easiest and cheapest method. You'll find all my best tips below. As far as supplies, let's take an in-depth look at the ones that were tested. I tried the shaving cream with food coloring, kids' washable paint, and suncatcher paint to see which would work best for marbling paper with shaving cream. Indulge me for just a moment. My inner teacher just had to create a chart for this...

As you can tell, the food coloring scored the highest marks in every area but washability. The suncatcher paint washed off a little better, but the squeezable bottles for the food coloring made it super easy to use. Oh, and the food coloring by far produced the most vivid colors! And, of course, we all know how inexpensive food coloring is. There you have it! Food coloring and shaving cream are my picks for paper marbling with kids.

Yes, I know! Letting kids loose with shaving cream and food coloring is making some of you a little nervous just thinking about it. BUT I have a solution for that too!

Ready for a super simple mom hack that makes crafts like this sooooooo much easier with kids? Keep a few packs of Kleenex Wet Wipes with your art and craft supplies for easy clean-up of messy hands. Each pack is less than $1.50 at Target stores and Target.com. They provide a gentle clean whenever you need it--even right in the middle of art time!

Alright, let's start crafting. Grab your supplies. Call the kids. And let's have some colorful fun with this easy paper marbling method. It's a sensory activity with an artistic twist. If your kids are anything like mine, they'll beg to try this again and again.

Shaving Cream Paper Marbling

Supplies:

• 2 large trays (I used plastic trays, but disposable aluminum trays would work too.)
• shaving cream
• food coloring
• heavy white paper (watercolor paper or card stock)
• wooden skewers or chopsticks
• paint stir stick
• cloth rag
• Kleenex Wet Wipes

Directions:

1. Gather your materials and cover your work surface.
2. Smear a generous amount of shaving cream across one the trays. The kids will LOVE this part!
3. Add drops of food coloring at various points across the layer of shaving cream. You can use as few or as many colors as you'd like. Tip: We started with one or two colors and marbled a piece of paper before adding more color to the same batch of dyed shaving cream and marbling another page. This allowed us to make a few marbleized pages with the same batch of shaving cream before washing it away and starting over.
4. Use the wooden skewers or chopsticks to swirl and streak the food coloring across the shaving cream.
5. Once you're happy with the design lay a piece of paper onto the dyed shaving cream. Press firmly across the entire page.
6. Peel the paper up at one corner and place it faceup on the second tray.
7. Use a paint stir stick to wipe away the shaving cream from the page. A colorful design will be revealed. Any residual shaving cream on the paper can be gently wiped away with a dry cloth.
8. Add more color to the shaving cream and repeat the steps.
9. When you want to start fresh with new colors and designs, simply wash the shaving cream off the tray. Dry the tray and begin again with a new layer of shaving cream.
10. Once you are completely finished hands can be wiped off with the Kleenex Wet Wipes. Clean up the rest of your materials. Rinse and dry the trays. Store unused materials together for your next paper marbling art session.

A Few Sanity-Saving Tips for Crafting with Kids

• Be prepared for the messiness. Cover your work surface with paper, a disposable tablecloth, or something else you can easily roll-up and discard when the project is done. Dress appropriately. And don't forget to keep wet wipes handy like the Kleenex Wet Wipes that are free from dyes, alcohol, parabens, sulfates, and phthalates. They are perfect for cleaning off little hands!
•  Have realistic expectations and keep it simple! Art and craft projects with kids are not about producing perfect products. They are about having FUN!
• Make it meaningful! This creative time with your kids is the perfect opportunity to bond over scissors, glue, and paint. Yes, crafting is a great way to spend quality time together. So...roll up your sleeves and get involved.
• Show and tell. Trying out a new technique? Using a new material? Teach the new technique to the kids or model how to appropriately use that new supply. Then let your kids creatively play and explore!
• Have fun! This is the most important thing!

Your turn!
Have you ever tried paper marbling with kids? What did you make with your marbled paper? Do you have any other tips for crafting with kids? Chat with us about it in the comments below. And check back to see a fun and practical way to use the colorful marbled paper.

 Happy crafting!