When I was thinking about a children's activity for half term, originally a fabric-related make, I suddenly thought about blow-painting.  It's fun to do (but either a do-it-outside activity or a make-sure-everything-is-covered up one!) and can lead to a fabric design.  Perfect!

Blow-Painting

Did you try blow-painting when you were younger?  I expect most of us did.  It's got that slightly naughty feel to it that children love!  Just in case you didn't, or you've forgotten about it, here's how you do it:

In a 'safe' space (outside, or with plenty of wipe-clean covers or newspaper), take a sheet of plain paper.  Drop a blob of fairly runny paint onto the paper and blow through a straw, aiming the straw at the centre of the paint.  That's it!  You can continue with the same colour, or add different colours.  Try moving the straw, so you elongate your blob as you blow.  Add features to your blob, to turn it into a creature.  Could you draw a whole story like this?

Another way to get the spatters is to drop a little paint from a dropper, or the end of a paintbrush.  What's the best height to drop it from?

Turning Your Painting Into a Design

If you want to take the activity to a new level, you can turn the design into a fabric print.

Once the paint has dried, scan it into the computer at 150 dpi.  See the blog post Design Your Own Fabric - Repeats if you want to try making a seamless repeat.

Make sure you're happy with the design - you can remove unwanted bits of paint or finger marks in Paint.net, or Photoshop, for instance.

Upload it to our web site.

Top image found on kidsactivitiesblog.com.