Looking for a way to make science learning more colorful? Your middle schooler will get hands-on science experience with this fun and expressive art activity. He'll make some beautiful and unique custom cards as he learns about two key properties of liquids — surface tension and density. Start painting and let the science begin!
What You Need:
- Blank greeting cards, made from paper with a rough or textured finish
- Testor's enamel model paint and thinner (available in craft stores)
- Bamboo skewers (available in craft stores and some grocery stores)
- Large basin
- Bottle filled with clean water
What You Do:
- Start off by preparing your work station and materials. Help your child set up the work area outside or in a well-ventilated room. Lay down a thick layer of newspapers, and pour two inches of water into the basin.
- Invite him to choose two colors. Show him how to use a skewer to drip paint onto the water and gently swirl the colors together inside the basin. The paint should float on top of the water. Explain that the paint film floating on water is a good visual illustration of surface tension. In liquids, attraction between molecules results in an invisible skin around the denser liquid that acts like a solid. Enamel paint is comparatively less dense than the water, so it floats.
- Have him very quickly drop the card front onto the design, barely submerge it, then lift it straight up. The paint should stick to the paper to create a beautiful, marbled design.
- Next, help him remove the leftover pigment from the water by swirling a skewer through the water and/or lifting off with plain paper or another card. He can change the water if it gets mucky. Once he gets the hang of it, he can work with more colors, reserving one skewer per color to avoid mixing paints in the bottles.
- As he finishes each card, have him to lay the prints flat to dry.
- While the prints are drying, clean up the work space. Help him use thinner to clean off his materials, and close the paint bottles up tight. Empty the basin and save it for another messy project!
When the prints are dry, he can fold them up and use them however he likes! They make great greeting cards, or he can swirl together green and red paints to make a unique Christmas card. Or he can just use a flat piece of paper, and make a fun painting to decorate his room!
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