Combine two crafts in your homeschool art with foam painting and yarn turtles – this multi-media project is a super fun way to explore different textures. First, use foam painting to create an ocean and then take yarn and craft sticks to make sea turtles that ‘swim’ in your ocean! Below is the list of supplies, directions, and a video tutorial.
Supplies for the Foam Paint Ocean
- Card stock (we used shades of blue)
- Glue (white like Elmer’s brand)
- Shaving cream
- Resealable plastic sandwich bags
- Food coloring (in ocean colors – blue, green, purple, white)
Supplies for the Yarn Turtles
- 3 craft sticks for each turtle
- Hot glue gun (easiest, but regular glue will work)
- Tempera paint (or acrylic paint or markers)
- Yarn
Directions for the Ocean
Put about 1/4 cup of glue in each plastic bag. Add about 1/2 teaspoon food coloring. Fill the bag half full with shaving foam. Press the air out of the bag and then knead the bag to mix. Add more food coloring as desired.
Use scissors to cut a small hole in one bottom corner of your bag. Squeeze the foam paint out onto your paper in swirls and waves. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours.
Caution: Don’t fill the bag too full with foam. You won’t be able to get it mixed. And, squeeze from the top of the bag down. Otherwise, your resealable end is likely to come unsealed. We had both of these problems – wish I had gotten some pictures. It was super messy! 🙂
Directions for the Yarn Turtles
Glue your three craft sticks together – stacked to form the head, tail, and four legs. Paint or decorate with a marker. Allow to dry if you painted the turtle. Tie yarn around the body and begin winding the yarn around the turtle’s center, moving diagonally. Once the center is covered, begin going around the perimeter – over two sticks, under one makes a nice pattern but you can do any pattern you like.
If you want to change yarn color, cut the yarn and tie the end to your new color underneath the turtle. When you finish, cut the yarn and tie it off or tuck it under.
Putting Them Together
A few of the students smushed their turtle into the shaving foam before it dried. I think they will stay attached. For the rest, I just hot glued the turtle onto the foam ocean.
This video shows how to make the foam ocean and how to wind the yarn on your turtle:
This project was part of our homeschool art day. Each August, I host this event in my backyard for Green Mountain Area Homeschoolers. I make instructional videos ahead of time and post them on Youtube so the students can start creating (and socializing) as soon as they arrive.
In addition to this homeshool art with foam painting and yarn turtles, you can access instructional videos from the past several years on my homeschool art playlist on Youtube. Every year, the students complete four different projects centered around a common theme.
This year’s theme is the Classical Elements of Ancient Greece – fire, water, earth, and air. The oceans and turtles represent water. We’ll be exhibiting our students’ work at our local library from mid-August through the month of September. (Belmar Library in Lakewood, CO if you happen to live in our area.)
