Two Ways to Teach Teamwork with Marble Painting

Last week I posted about painting with preschoolers and kindergartners. Painting is not just a fun activity or an activity that helps in development. Painting can be a great tool for teaching concepts and building spiritual foundations in the lives of boys and girls. Here are two ways you can use marble painting to help teach the concepts of working together and helping one another.

Giant Marble Painting

Materials needed: Large canvas (choose one that’s not too large for the kids to handle); pieces of cardboard; tape or industrial stapler; bowls of paint; variety of marbles; spoons

• Tape or staple lengths of cardboard around the canvas. Make sure the cardboard extends above the canvas at least a couple of inches. You want the canvas to look like a box when you are done.
• Drop marbles into the bowls of washable tempera paint. Use the spoons to scoop out the marbles and drop them onto the canvas.
• Gather 2-4 kids to pick up the canvas (by the bottom). Station kids around the sides of canvas and encourage them to work together to move the canvas up and down causing the marbles to roll back and forth and around. Stop after a couple of minutes, put the marbles in the paint and back in the canvas, and repeat.
• Encourage kids to take turns moving the canvas. Talk about how we work together at church or families work together at home.
• Move your canvas to a safe place to dry when you are done. Display your work of art in the classroom or hallway of your children’s area.

Note: This activity is best done with older preschoolers, kindergartners, or first and second graders. 

Rolling Marble Painting

Materials needed: Cylinder container with lid (like an oatmeal box); paper; bowls of paint; variety of marbles; spoons; tape (especially for younger preschoolers)

• Cut the paper to fit inside the container. Slide one piece of paper into the container and make sure it lays flat against the sides of the container.
• Drop marbles into bowls of washable tempera paint. Use spoons to scoop out the marbles and drop them into the container.
• Put the lid on the container. Tape the lid down for extra security (especially if doing the activity with 2s or younger 3s).
• Ask two children to stand on either side of a table. Lay the container on its side and encourage the children to roll the container back and forth. You could involve more than 2 children and roll it all around among them. If you need more space, use the floor.
• Talk about ways friends help one another or ways that people work together at your church.
• Remove the marbles and the paper. Insert another piece of paper and ask the two children to do it again (so each child will have a painting). Or cut the painting in half after it dries. Or display the paintings in your children’s area.

Note: This activity can be done with 2s and older. (I’ve even seen it done with older 1s.)