easy prints, great project

So a while ago, I saw a picture somewhere of a toddler painting on a cookie sheet and then transferring it to paper.  I thought it was genius, and filed it away in my head for a rainy day.

The only problem is that my brain doesn't work like it used to.  If I don't write it down or set an alarm in my phone, it is widely assumed that I won't remember it.  And I'm not even kidding.  I can't write things on paper anymore, because I won't remember where I put the paper.  So if I have a pen and need to write something down, it goes on my hand.  Which then spreads to my arm, if any sort of details are involved.  It's pathetic, really.

But every now and again, I will have a moment of clarity, and remember something fantastic.  Today was one of those days.

My son was playing the chef who puts out fires set by the mean machine who was considerate enough to call him on the phone to alert him of his intentions, and it came to me.  I asked him if he wanted to do a fun painting project, and he was instantly on board.

He picked out his cookie sheet, we got out some paint and paper, and got to work.  This project was so easy and so much fun.  It only required a few items that I had lying around, but even if I didn't have q-tips, a finger would work just as well. Or crumpled up paper, or a cotton ball, or a paint brush, or a pencil, or a crayon, or a spoon, or Barbie's foot, or a fork, or a toy car, or a leaf, or a shoe...  It's endless fun, really.

So you put some paint on the cookie sheet, let your kid smush it all around and make all sorts of designs in it, and put a piece of paper on top.  At first, you barely have to touch the paper, since the paint will be thicker.  But as the paint pares down, you can smooth out the paper with your hands to transfer the pattern onto the paper.  That's all there is to it!

And if you don't want to have a stack of prints lying all over your house, you could fold them in half and make cards out of them!!  Or maybe if you use a larger sheet of paper, you could use it as wrapping for a small present.  Endless fun, I tell you!

The best part of this project?  No mess.  Maybe it's just my kid, but I didn't even have to put a smock on him.  I just rolled up his sleeves and let him go.  See that paint on the towel?  

That was the only paint outside of the cookie sheet.  

But......  I did use washable paint, just in case.

As great as these are, just take a look up close.  

Some of the paint we used here was metallic, and up until now, I didn't quite realize how special is was.  I just thought it would be fun for the kids.  But WOW. 

 Just, wow.