A little crafternoon inspiration: How to make marbled paper

If you’re trying to keep a couple of restless kids occupied, look no further! This craft is a huge hit with our 6 to 12-year olds who come to YMCA Day Camps, and it’s easy enough for you to try from the comfort and safety of your home.

Here’s what you you’ll need:

• Shaving foam (not shaving “gel”)


• A plastic tray like a pie plate, baking sheet, or baking tin. As long as it has edges, it’ll work!


• Popsicle sticks, toothpicks, or wooden skewers


• As many sheets of plain white paper as you’d like. Heavier stock card is ideal, but plain old regular paper works too


• A small piece of cardboard — about half the size of the plain white paper you’re using


• A ruler, or another piece of cardboard you’ll use to “flatten” the shaving foam


• Food coloring. You’ll need at least one colour, but the more, the merrier!


• Something to cover your table, like newspapers, a plastic table cloth, or a garbage bag. Things are about to get messy!


• Clothes you won’t mind getting a little dirty, both for you and your little ones

Let’s get started!

Depending how old your kids are, you may want to do the first four steps for them to control the mess as much as possible. But if you don’t mind getting a little shaving foam and food colouring on you, let them loose!

1. Cover your table and make sure everyone’s wearing clothes they can get dirty. We can’t stress enough that this activity is a bit messy — but that’s all part of the fun.


2. Fill your pie plate/baking sheet/baking tin with approximately on half to one inch of shaving foam.


3. Use the ruler or piece of cardboard to level out the shaving foam as much as possible.


4. Next, put a few drops of food coloring in the shaving foam. Spread the drops out evenly; you can always add more later.


5. Let your kid show off their artistic flair by having them swirl the colour(s) around the shaving foam using the popsicle stick. They don’t need to press too hard, or put the stick very deep into the foam. Also encourage them to keep the swirling to a minimum; if they start stirring, you’ll just end up with a soup of mud-coloured foam.


6. Cut the piece of plain white paper so it will fit in your plate/sheet/tin.


7. Drop the paper onto the shaving foam that’s now a masterpiece of swirly colours. Gently push down so that the majority of the surface of the paper is touching the shaving foam, but not so much that you need to dig it out.


8. Carefully lift the paper out of the shaving foam, and place it on a flat surface. Use a straight-edged piece of cardboard to scrape off the shaving foam.


9. Set the paper aside and let it dry completely.


10. If you’re making more than one piece of marbled paper, repeat steps six to nine one more time using the same layer of coloured shaving foam. (In other words, each layer of foam makes up to two sheets of marbled paper.) Then, mix up the shaving foam until it is all one colour, add some more food colouring, and start again! Once you’ve reused the same foam once, discard and start with a fresh layer; after being stirred up and re-coloured once already, it will likely get too muddy to use a third time.

How to get extra-creative:

• Instead of plain old rectangles or squares, cut your pieces of white paper into fun shapes! Try flowers or suns to celebrate spring.


• You can also cut your marbled paper once it’s totally dry. Try trimming it into Easter shapes like bunnies or eggs and using it for cards for your family and friends!


• If your plate/sheet/tin is big enough, make a larger piece of marbled paper and use it to make a book cover.

Our Day Camps team hopes you have so much fun with your craft! Share your finished creative masterpieces with us on twitter @YMCAGTACamps.