Splat painting so easy and so much fun for kids! This simple action art activity involves hitting paint-soaked cotton balls with a small mallet or spoon.
Updated August 2022
Splat painting is fun, fun, fun.
And it’s so simple!
- Dip cotton balls in paint.
- Place paint-soaked cotton ball on paper.
- Hit it with a small wooden mallet or spoon.
Then watch as paint splats and splatters out of the cotton ball.
Your kids will want to do it over and over again!
Here’s a brief video showing splat painting in action. And then keep scrolling for a quick tutorial.
Splat Painting for Kids
MATERIALS
- Cotton balls
- Small cups (we actually used jelly jars)
- Liquid watercolor paint (or food coloring)
- Watercolor paper or card stock
- Small wooden mallet*
*Make your own by hot-gluing a large wood bead to the end of a wooden dowel as we did. Or use a drumstick or the mallet that comes with a xylophone set or a pounding toy. You can also use a spoon!
INSTRUCTIONS
- Set up for splat painting
As you can imagine, splat painting is a tad messy and is a great outdoor art activity. A hard surface works best, as you’ll be pounding with a mallet. We set up a small kids’ table on the back deck, but you could also do this on a sidewalk or driveway.
To set up, we put liquid watercolor paint in small cups and watered it down. You could also use food coloring or even tempera paint.
You can also tape down the corners of watercolor paper to hold it in place as the kids pound and the paint splats.
- Dip cotton balls in paint
You can do them one at a time, as you’re going to use the cotton ball. Or you put a cotton ball into each paint cup to soak at the same time.
- Place paint-soaked cotton ball on paper
You can transfer the cotton balls from paint cups to paper with a spoon, tongs, or fingers.
- Hit it!
And watch as paint splats and splatters out of the cotton ball.
Kids get such a thrill out of watching the trajectory of the paint splatters. Plus, of course, they love pounding the cotton balls with their little mallets or spoons. - Repeat!
Remove the cotton ball with a spoon, fingers, or tongs and repeat with more colors and more balls as desired.
If your kids are looking for more opportunities to get messy, try these splat painting ideas, too!
- Drop paint-covered cotton balls onto paper from a distance (standing up, on a chair, or from a porch)
- Fill water balloons with DIY chalk paint and drop onto the sidewalk (on Growing a Jeweled Rose)
- Splat painting with paint dots and cotton rounds (on A Crafty Morning)
People Also Ask
- How do you splatter paint with a straw? You can achieve splat-like results by dripping paint onto paper and then blowing the wet paint with a straw! Blow painting is one of our favorite art activities!
- How do you splat paint? It’s easy! Simply dip cotton balls in paint, then place paint-soaked cotton ball on paper. Next, hit it with a small wooden mallet or spoon and watch as paint splats and splatters out of the cotton ball!
- What paint do you use for splatter painting? You can use liquid watercolors, food coloring, or watered down tempera paint.
More Messy Art Ideas for Kids
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- Painting with Wheels: Easy Action Art Activity for Kids
- Action Art for Kids: Try Painting with a Drill & Brush!
- 7 Fun Painting Ideas for Kids to Try
- How to Do Spin Art with a Salad Spinner
- Marble Painting for Kids
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