Toothpaste and Lotion Batik a la Phyl

Before rinsing phase

A BIG thanks to Phyl over at There's A Dragon in My Art Room for this fantastic project. (Be sure to check out the wonderful work her students made as well as some photos of the process.) When she posted this project a while back, well, let's just say, she had me at "toothpaste". It's half science project, half art lesson. I taped a piece of muslin to a square of cardboard. The children lightly mapped out their design. I gave them free reign, they could do an abstract design or something representational. A mixture of equal parts toothpaste and aloe vera lotion (both readily available at the dollar store) is applied in an empty glue bottle, tracing over the pencil lines. Everywhere this mixture is applied will remain white in the end. This needs to dry completely before the painting step. The following week I offered a variety of watered down acrylic colors. (Phyl used non-washable tempera paints with very vivid results). Once the paint has dried simply rinse the fabric in the sink, clearing away all toothpaste/lotion mixture. After haniging to dry and a quick run of the iron, I mounted their work on black poster board. They each signed under their batiks with a gold metallic marker. Most of the students in this class were kindergarteners. I think each of them did a fabulous job and they all loved the process. This will definitley be a project that I return to again and again. These would also be great turned into pillows for holiday gift project.