Activity:
Make Marbled Christmas Balls
Forget mass-produced, store bought holiday ornaments. Wouldn't you love to have your family's own personalized creations hanging from the tree this year? Your child will delight in ushering the holidays by making his own homemade marbled Christmas balls. He doesn't have to be a trained artist to make a professional-looking ornament, but a strong desire to embrace the holiday spirit is absolutely necessary!
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What You Need:
- Tempera paint (various colors)
- Clear glass or plastic ornament balls (found at craft stores)
- Water
What You Do:
- Have your child remove the top from his Christmas ball. If the ornament is dusty, encourage him to rinse it out before beginning.
- Ask your child to pick out two colors that he wishes to use to marble the Christmas ornament. Red and green or white and blue are festive sets of colors to use!
- Invite your child to put a large drop of one color of paint into the ball. He can flip the ball over, and let the paint drip out. Tell him he can keep adding paint until the desired coverage is reached. If the paint does not spread easily, help him by adding a few drops of water.
- Encourage your child to let the first color dry almost completely before adding the second color. This way, the colors will blend somewhat, but not completely. He should then add the drops of the second color in the same manner as the first, letting the second color fill in spots the first color didn’t.
- Make sure he lets the Christmas ball dry overnight. Replace the top securely and hang it from the tree to admire!
Another option is to take the finished Christmas balls and personalize them to give as gifts. Your child can use paint pens to write his friends’ names on the ornaments along with a festive holiday greeting!
