Scrunch Painting

A rainy Saturday afternoon means we get out the paints!

My kids were intrigued as I set up this simple process art activity, they couldn’t work out what I was doing with all these odd bits and pieces, but as soon as I said ‘scrunch painting’ they got the idea!

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

Sometimes it’s fun to do something a little different, and to go a little crazy with creating. This scrunch painting activity is a great way to explore different textures and materials, and it’s loads of wild and crazy fun!

It can get a little messy, so make sure you have covered your work surface. Wear a smock or an apron, and you have a damp cloth near by to wipe painty fingers.

You’ll probably end up with lots and lots of paintings too, so make sure you have somewhere to lay them flat to dry.

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity


To make your own ‘scrunchers’ you’ll need:

  • Paints in bowls or open containers.
  • A variety of different materials to make scrunchers.
  • Stick tape (optional but handy).
  • Paper to paint on.
  • Something to cover your work surface, and a smock/apron.

We used liquitemp paints with a squirt of dish washing liquid mixed in to make clean up easier.

The boys and I made a set of five different ‘scrunchers’ to print and paint with!

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

We used foil, a plastic bag, cling wrap, cotton material, and newspaper.

We scrunched them up into a ball and made a ‘handle’ type bit at the top to hold on to. Some of the materials, like the foil and cling wrap, hold their scrunched shape well, but others might need to a bit of sticky tape wrapped around the ‘handle’ part to keep it together and make it easier to grab on to.

Each scruncher had it’s own bowl of paint and we dipped them in and tested them out on a sheet of paper to see what prints and patterns they would make…

Foil

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

Plastic shopping bag.

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

Cling wrap.

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

Cotton material.

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

Newspaper.

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

It was interesting to see what pattern each different type of material made, and how it changed the more we painted and scrunched each of them.

After our careful testing, the real fun began!

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

There was lots of wild scrunching and printing and painting!

We scrunched fast and furiously, and we scrunched slow and carefully, and we made all kinds of interesting patterns and designs.

Scrunch painting! An easy process art activity

Scrunch painting is easy and it’s such a fun way to paint and explore textures and patterns and it’s a fun process art activity.

Give scrunch painting a try.

If you have a go at some scrunch painting we’d love to see some pictures! Tag me on instagram (@picklebums) or share a photo on our facebook page.

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