Paint with toddlers and preschoolers using marbles and cardboard boxes. So fun, easy, inexpensive, and perfect for creating process art!

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*We got today’s art project idea from the book Art Lab for Little Kids by Susan Schwake. I highly recommend it!

How To: The Artwork

Supplies:

• Boxes (I used a mix of shoe boxes and packaging boxes that were approximately the size of shoe boxes)
• Watercolor paper
• Marbles (I used the marbles that came with our marble run sets.)
• Washable tempera paint (I used light blue, green, and yellow because those are the colors of our inspiration painting.)

Directions:

Cut the paper to fit into the bottom of the boxes. The kids’ papers were all different sizes because I had differently sized boxes, but it was okay! It made each of their paintings even more unique. Dip the marbles into the paint, set them in the boxes with the paper already inside. Then move the box around so the marbles roll over the paper. Feel free to lift out the marbles and dip them in the paint and repeat for more color. So fun! I had extra paper out, and the kids made more than one! (We set some aside for our art show that we’re preparing for!)

How To: The Program

My Young Artists class allows 2-5 year olds to explore art and engage the senses to help them understand the world around them. Exploring famous artists and their work allows kids to see that they are capable of making beautiful, creative artwork. Plus, exploring famous artists provides a unique way to teach children about basic art techniques.

Group Activity:

For our group activity, I set up these really cool marble runs. (We already had three Marbulous 75 piece sets, but I couldn’t find those for a great price, so I found these that look way more up to date and so awesome!)

The kids had SO MUCH FUN! Seriously. They just kept taking turns putting the marbles in the entry slots. For like 15 minutes. It was great! I built the runs ahead of time, but if you’re up for the build together challenge, go for it!

Group Story:

We read Anywhere Artist by Nikki Slade Robinson, and it was a hit! The kids actually listened to every word!!! They also had tons of stories of when they played outside and why they think mud is gross and the best parts of the beach.

I also showed the kids some of Susan Schwake’s artwork for even more art learning! (We got today’s whole art project idea from the book Art Lab for Little Kids by Susan Schwake. I highly recommend it!)

Individual Art:

Finally, I explained the project to them and they got started! They were so excited to use the marbles! I thought marbles would be flying everywhere, but only one girl had a marble fly out, and everyone’s project turned out amazing! Plus, the process was so. much. fun! Parents kept saying, “This is such an easy idea to do at home!”