If you thought the last craft I shared was messy, just wait until you and your kids try this one! (Just kidding. Kind of. :P) I have fond memories of marble painting when I was a kid, so I was so excited to try this out with my toddler. Despite the messiness, you can create some really neat cards for Valentine’s Day with this popular technique, or any time that you’d like to send a little note to your family or friends!

Materials

• white paper (types that can withstand paint, and lots of it!)
• colored paper
• washable paint
• marbles
• a tray (I made one out of recycled cardboard, but a shoebox lid, or old baking pan also works)
• masking or painter’s tape
• scissors
• glue
• sealable plastic snack or sandwich bag (for clean up)

The Messy Part

Tape a piece of white paper in the middle of your tray. Add some dollops of paint on top of the paper. We experimented putting paint on different places of the paper (i.e. the corners, in the middle, and even to the side) before rolling. I’d say that 2-3 colors work best for clarity of colors, but do whatever floats your boat!

Now add the marbles and get rolling! Your kids can do this on your own, or you can make it a team effort like my toddler and I did. We each held a slide of the tray and tilted it to roll the marbles back and forth to one another.

After you are done with the marble painting part, eat a snack, do a dance, take a nap, or do all three as you wait for the sheets to dry.

The Not So Messy Part

Once the painted sheets are dry, cut out some shapes (like hearts) to glue onto your cards. For our cards, I cut out 5×7 rectangles out of different colored cardstock to fit into some leftover envelopes from last year’s Christmas cards.

Once everything is cut out, all that’s left to do is glue the shapes onto the cards! Feel free to add some other decorations or keep it “minimalist” (is that even possible with kids’ arts and crafts though?) and let the focus remain on those beautiful, messy marble paint streaks.

My daughter (and I) really loved how these turned out. I know that she loved them because she held them and played with them for quite a while afterwards, all while ignoring all the “real toys” around our house. (Side note: Is it just me or am I the only parent who asks themselves, “Why do I even buy toys?!” My toddler is perfectly happy playing with cardboard boxes and scraps of paper… which actually, I really love because I get to see her imagination! One day, that crumpled piece of paper is a paddle for her boat, the next day, it’s a microphone, and then after that, it’s an ice cream cone… I just can’t keep up! Ha! )

Now all that’s left to do is write some sweet words on those cards and send them to family and friends to remind them that they are loved!

Quick cleaning tip…

To easily clean those messy marbles, put them in a sandwich bag and hold it under a running faucet. Once the bag is full, you can seal part of the top but leave a small opening to dump the water out. Several rounds of this and your marbles should be shining like new!

And now, a song about LOVE…

Here’s an original song that I shared earlier this week! Hopefully it can spark some other ideas and good conversation with you and your kids about different ways we can show our love to family and friends!

(A chord chart, sheet music, and coloring sheets will be available for this song soon!)

Thanks once again for checking out Crayons and Melodies and I hope that you’re able to make some sweet memories with your kids this weekend!

Happy crafting and music making!

– Hannah