How is everyone’s Halloween planning coming along? In years past, I would’ve had my costume determined by July and my house completely decorated on October 1st (because any sooner would be tacky, right?). Six years and four babies later…this mom doesn’t have time for anything elaborate! And so, my fellow time- and energy-strapped parents, I present to you: an incredibly simple Halloween craft, using the barest minimum of supplies, that little kids AND big kids will enjoy. Ink Blot Monsters!
For this monster-themed art project, you will need several sheets of thick white paper, a few colors of paint, and some googly eyes. We used heavy duty construction paper and tempera paint:
These little monsters take just a few seconds to create, so each person will want to make at least three (or more – go crazy with it!).
Using a half-sheet of paper, first fold the paper in half, making a crease down the middle. Unfold the paper again and drizzle some paint along the crease. A little goes a long way!
Now re-fold the paper and use your fingers to spread the paint between the layers, starting at the crease and moving toward the edges. This is where you can experiment a little! Try using your fingertips, rather than a flat hand, and drag the paint in different directions. Make zig-zags, waves, or swirls. Use multiple colors on one sheet.
Open your paper to see what kind of monster you’ve created! Ask your little ones if they can see a face in the blob of paint. Where would they place the eyes? Can they see other features? Horns? Wings? Whiskers?
Place the googly eyes on your ink blot monsters wherever they seem to fit. Make a one-eyed cyclops or an eight-eyed spider. If you add the eyes while the paint is still wet then you won’t need glue. Otherwise, a dab of school glue will do the trick.
This project was so much fun because all the ink blot monsters we created were unique. And as long as you don’t go overboard with the paint, clean-up is a cinch!
See all the ink blot monsters that my 5, 4, and 3-year-olds created:
