String Painting has been on our to do list for a while as I had seen it done and knew my boys would love it! It’s a fun process art activity and the results are amazingly beautiful! It’s also super easy to set up and you can quickly produce lots of beautiful masterpieces!
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR STRING PAINTING (affiliate links):
* String – you can use many types of string but we found that polyester thread worked the best as it was really thin and didn’t absorb the color too much.
* Food coloring or liquid watercolors – we tried both and found that plain old food coloring worked better for us.
* Sketch pad – any drawing paper would work here but we liked using a bound sketch book as it made the process much easier.
* Small spoon
* Scissors
Check out the below video of our string painting in action:
HOW TO MAKE A STRING PAINTING:
1. Start by putting some food coloring (or liquid water colors) into small bowls. Do NOT water down the food coloring or your painting will not be as vibrant. I tried to do this to make more paint and it just made the paintings much lighter than I preferred.
2. Cut a piece of string or thread about 12 inches.
3. Dip the string in the food coloring until it is completely immersed. If you use polyester thread like we did, you may need to use a small spoon to help cover the tread in paint as it will want to sit on the surface. Cotton thread tends to sink right into the color.
4. Lift the string out of the paint and if there is a lot of excess dripping off, take your index and thumb (wear a glove if you want to stay clean) and remove some of the excess paint. We did not have to do this with polyester thread but we did need to do it with cotton thread as it really held onto the paint.
5. Now take your string and lay it on a piece of paper. You can swirl it around or make a pattern but have the end of the string your holding end at the edge of the paper so you are able to pull the string out.
6. Now lay another piece of paper over the string and paper (or close the sketch pad if you are using one like us.)
7. Please the palm of your free hand on top of the string and paper sandwich you created and while holding down the paper, pull the string out from between them.
8. Once the string is removed, open up the papers to reveal a beautiful, symmetrical painting on both pieces of paper!
You will be amazed by the results! My boys were so proud of themselves.
We also studied our paintings for a while to see what objects or animals they could find in their creations. We found birds, butterflies and flowers to name a few. It was almost like finding shapes in the clouds.
Such a fun activity and we have lots of beautiful pieces to frame and put in their rooms!
Looking for more simple art ideas? Check out some other fun art activities!
