Scrape painting- kids craft

Today we are going to try our hand at Scrape painting- It’s a perfect kids’ craft using a few simple materials.

Scrape painting- can also be called squeegee painting or paint dragging! If you have a few minutes to fall down a rabbit hole- go to Tik Tok and search ‘dragging paint with squeegee’! There are so many fun ways and techniques to do this DIY! Kids absolutely love this one! A little to do with the mess- but a lot to do with the magic as you pull the squeegee down and watch the picture appear!

With just a few simple materials and some imagination, you and your little ones can create beautiful, one-of-a-kind masterpieces. It’s the perfect activity for kids of all ages. Get ready to unleash your inner artist and have some messy, colorful fun!

This project is part of my Kid’s Craft camp! Make sure to click on the image to see all 50 craft ideas!

The things you need to create a Scrape Painting

Cardstock Paper (Black paper if you want to make the ghost picture)
Paint- I used acrylic but you can use tempera paint which is washable!
Squeegee, vinyl application tool, piece of cardboard, or old credit cards
Tray or plastic tablecloth to protect your workspace
Papertowels
Squeeze bottles (optional)
Tape

Set up for the Painting

Set up might look a little different depending on the ages of your kids!

This project can be messy- which is always half the fun! Lay down a plastic tablecloth and put your paper on a tray or a cookie sheet to help contain the mess!

You can tape the picture to the tray so it doesn’t slide around when you pull the squeegee over it!

The squeegee needs to be cleaned off between papers and maybe even in between wipes depending on how much paint is on the paper. Keeping a bowl of water and some paper towels nearby will be handy! You can cut some cardboard and use them as scrapers then you can toss them after each picture!

If your kids are little, putting the paint in little squeeze bottles makes it a little easier to control the flow of the paint!

How to make a Scrape painting

Once your workspace is ready- it’s time to start the fun!

Step 1: Paint

There are multiple ways to do this part! You can do more than one color at a time. You can do lines or dots or both. Start small and then work your way up to more advanced!

I suggest starting with a few colors in a row for your first spread!

Step 2: Scrape

The best part- pull your squeegee across the paint. You can move straight across or swirl it around. You want to make sure the application tool stays flush with the paper.

The squeegee will have leftover paint on it. You can keep swiping it onto the paper or clean it off and add more paint.

Once you have the basic concept down, you can try filling in the whole paper with paint.

or you can try adding color over color one at a time. It’s a great project to do to teach about the color wheel. Do a red striped, add a yellow dot next to it and make orange as it spreads over the red.

Wipe off the squeegee if you plan on using a different color!

You can have kids write their names in paint to swipe.

Play around with what you swipe with. The cardboard left some fun stripes in the paint.

Projects to do with your kids artwork painting

This project is more about the creation than the end results- but I wanted to give you some ideas on things to do with all those pictures your kids will create

Turn the pictures into notecards! Mail one to grandma, use it to write a thank you note to a teacher, or send a card to a friend.
Bookmarks! Cut them down to fit in a book and add a tassel or ribbon!
Take a pen and outline the colors. You can doodle all over it!
Cut out some petals and create some paper flowers
Use the papers to wrap up a gift!

Now that you know how to create a scrape painting- you can make this ghost print one for Halloween!

Troubleshooting

You can’t see the paint: Some paints are a little more translucent! I tried a shimmer and it disappeared when I swiped!
I’ve got lines. When I used cardboard as my swiper, it created some lines on the ghost. I actually kind of liked it! So different squeegees are going to give different results.
The paint is too thick. If you can’t squeeze out a good arch because your paint is too thick, you can mix a tiny bit of water to thin it out! Be careful because you don’t want it too runny either!
I messed up. Can I go over it? I tried going over the ghost a second time. It made it less ghosty – more saturated. And it’s hard to line it up the same. It will create a different look for sure! As Bob Ross said, there are no mistakes just happy accidents so maybe you will like it!

Squeegee painting Variations:

Try lines versus dots
Write out your name and see what happens
tiny dots versus big dots
Try to create a plaid
Use only black and white paint
Cardboard as a scraper makes lines through the paint! Try using other fun textures!

Save for later

Too busy to get crafting today? No problem! Pin this post to remind yourself about this project later! Sharing my projects helps me reach more people, allowing me to continue sharing free content!

The BEST kid crafts and activities

and when I say kids, I mean kids of all ages!

If you are looking for more fun kids’ crafts- my craft camp has two weeks full of fun projects that you will love to do as well!