Let's Explore Art Materials like Scientists

Whenever we do art projects, I always hand Chuck certain drawing materials because I know their properties and how they'll look and interact with each other.  In this activity I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit and let Chuck do some exploring.  So we tried our hand at exploring art materials like scientists!    

Scientifically exploring Art Materials with Kids

(This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!)

Materials Needed:

• Cardboard
• Masking Tape
• Scissors
• Different materials to draw on- We used paper, cereal box cardboard, thin Styrofoam sheet, aluminum foil, paper towels, felt, sand paper, and wax paper.
• Different materials to draw with:   Markers and Crayons

Now let's be scientists... and artists!

(Scientific Artists?  Artistic Scientists?  Hrmmm...)

1.  Cut out similar sized rectangles from each of your materials.

2.  Tape them onto your pieces of cardboard.

3.  Let your child try drawing on the different materials with markers and then crayons.  Observe what happens:

• Does the marker or crayon stay on, or does it wipe off?
• How does it feel to draw on this sheet of  ___?
• Do the colors look bright and colorful or faded?
• Which materials worked the best with the marker/crayon?  Which didn't work well?

Some final thoughts...

I'll be honest, I thought this activity would be a total flop.  Explore art materials like a scientist.... with an almost 3-yr old boy who would (on most days) rather play with his cars then craft with mama?  Ehhh, yeah right.

But, Chuck pleasantly surprised me.

We ended up discussing the physical properties of the different materials quite a bit.  We noticed how some colors smeared, how foil wouldn't accept colors (but became dented instead), and how some materials just let the colors spread... and spread... and spread....

(Yurp.  I think we lost about a quarter of our brown marker to the paper towel that day.  RIP friend.  It was in the name of scientific art.)

And here's a photo of our artsy lab book.  I love how recording our findings resulted in such beautiful artwork.

Isn't it beautiful?  I liked this one so much that I ended up hanging it up on our wall.

So I hope you try out this activity too.... and then let me know how it turns out!

Pssst- Looking for other easy ways to highlight the relationship between science and art?

Check this list of 40+ Projects that combine STEM with Art out!  Or, check out some of my STEAM themed books.

Let's keep in Contact!

Like kids crafts and activities?  Then you'll definitely want to check out this awesome craft ebook!  It contains 115 pages of unique crafts written by 18 kid craft loving moms!  And, it costs only $12.99!

   

And, you can always find  fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!  (Or subscribe to my email mailing list by filling out the pink bar at the top of your screen.)

Happy making, friends!