Paint Designs with Tape

What You Need:

• Card stock
• Painter’s tape or masking tape
• Paint
• Paint brush
• Scissors
• Newspaper

What You Do:

1. Decide together what design or image you two would like to make. Since you'll be working primarily with straight lines, check out flags for inspiration.
2. Cut out strips of painter's or masking tape and lay them down on the card stock to create your design. Tip: For thinner lines, carefully cut the tape strips in half lengthwise.
3. Line the table with some newspaper.
4. Paint over all the white areas that aren’t covered with tape. Challenge him to paint inside the lines as much as possible, but let him know not to worry if his brush strokes pass over the tape!
5. Allow the paint to dry, then remove the tape from the surface of the card stock.
6. Voila! Your child now has a wonderful work of art with clean lines where the tape was protecting the card stock.

This activity has endless possibilities for you and your child to enjoy again and again. One variation is painting the taped areas a different color to further improve his hand-eye coordination. Another challenge is to use thinner tape strips in more complex patterns.