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We make Valentine’s Day post cards to send to friends and family each year. This year, we enjoyed exploring a new process in this multi day layered artwork: watercolor printing! Your 2-6 year old artists will have a blast with this, and the lucky recipients of these postcards will feel loved even from afar.
This project can take 2-4 days to “complete”. To read about why prioritize encouraging layered artworks with youngsters, check this out.
Materials
- Watercolor postcards
- Sharpie markers
- Aluminum foil
- Washable markers
- Spray bottle filled with water
- Elmer’s glue in a paint cup with brush
- tissue paper scraps
- Heart hole puncher (optional)
- Glitter mixed into glue (optional)
- Drawing materials
Instructions
- Before getting started, sit down with your little artists and choose a color group to work from. All materials should fit within your chosen color scheme, unless the little artist expresses a need to diverge.
- Invite your little artist to draw on the postcards with sharpie markers.
3. Next, fill a piece of tin foil with washable marker scribbles, spray it with water, and press the face of the postcard into it to “print” the color. It will look like a lovely watercolor painting! So this again and again with your cards until your little artists are “done”.
4. Let them dry.
5. Next, invite your little artist to create a layer of tissue paper collage. Since the tissue paper and glue are semi transparent, you will still be able to see the drawings underneath when they are dry. We put glitter in our glue. We also used little paper hearts made with a hole punch.
6. When the artworks are dry, invite your child to add a layer of crayon to their masterpiece. Now, your Valentine’s Day postcards are ready to send off and warm the hearts of friends and family.
