Relief Painting

This great idea came from The Snail's Trail. I think my kids, (especially my two year old) were a little too young to grasp the concept, but it was still fun. I see so many possibilities you can do with this...caterpillars would be super easy to create. And wouldn't it be a great way to create 3-D Montessori-type landforms and even continents.


What You Need:

-cardboard or cereal boxes
-toilet paper
-glue
-water
-mixing bowl
-something to mix the glue and water (we used a chopstick)
-towel
-blow dryer
-paint brushes
-paints (I also took Mama Snail's recommendation and tried Creamcoat paints which were on sale at Hobby Lobby. I was not disappointed!)
-containers to hold paint
-cups of water to rinse brushes plus some rags to wipe messes

Squeeze glue and add a little bit of water and mix. I have no idea what the ratio should be. I think 2:1 glue to water?

Squeeze and plop on cardboard or cereal boxes. Dry with a blow dryer until it's mostly dry. If it's too dry, it seems to fall off the base. Then, paint away!For little hands, I recommend ripping up a lot of small sections of toilet paper in advance. And if you have a slightly anal child like Cheeky, a wet rag to periodically wipe sticky hands would be helpful.

It's funny to hear my two year old ramble about her evolving creation. First, it's a dog, then a sae-woo (shrimp in Korean) and later...dog poop. For Cheeky's age demographic (she's two) I think they really need separate paint cups with brushes for each color. Otherwise, it can become a watery mess. Maybe I'll have something like this by the time the next baby does this project.


Koko's art consists of a dog, a present, a car, grass, and water. The dog's eyes unfortunately kept falling off.