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Can Paint Float?
Will every paint stay on top of water? Let’s find out, then make swirls we can print.
LOOK CLOSELY
Will the color stay on top?
Watch the colors touch the water. What do you predict will happen when they swirl?
Video coming soon. Explore the activity below.
Gather what you need
Two shallow trays, water, washable watercolor, child-appropriate water-based marbling paint used as labeled, paper, and a mixing stick.
For your grown-up: A grown-up chooses an age-appropriate water-based marbling kit and follows its setup and disposal directions. Ordinary paint may mix into water rather than float; avoid solvent-based paints.
Let’s see what happens.
- With a grown-up, place a drop of washable watercolor in plain water. Notice whether it spreads, mixes, or sinks.
- Prepare the marbling tray exactly as the marbling paint’s label directs. Predict how this paint will behave.
- Add a few colors and gently draw a stick through them. Leave some swirls untouched.
- Lay paper on the surface as directed, lift it, and dry it flat. Keep the print or fold the dry paper into a fan.
Your ideas belong here too.
Which way should we pull a swirl? Predict what the paper will pick up before we lift it.
Tell me about your making.
Did the two paints behave the same way? What happened when we stirred more?
What would you try next?
“I’ll show you how I did mine. Yours doesn’t have to look like mine.”
For grown-ups · lesson notes
For grown-ups: open the little lesson plan →
Elements of Art focus: Color & line. Move color into flowing lines and lift a print. Meet the seven art ideas →
PLAY THIS ART ADVENTURE · 06
Swirl & Lift
Move color into flowing lines and lift a print.
Art ideas: Color & line. One playful connection to this project.
Find this resource again: mrrichiecreates.com/episodes/can-paint-float