Video 3: Can marbles paint?

Yes, anything can in the eyes and hands of children. It was one of those rainy-after-a-ton-of-snow days and indoor recess at school…

I dug the old pizza boxes out, dropped some marbles in little water cups and the fun lasted for about an hour. There was a lot of wondering and extending on what they had already accomplished.

Children just love being able to answer their own questions, especially if they do it while they are enjoying the process of making meaning.

“What will happen if we put all of our ten marbles in the box?,” asked one of them. “They will go everywhere,” said the other. “Let’s find out” is how this ended and so much conversation about movement, shapes and how dice wouldn’t really have the same effect and why not – trust me, we tried that as well!

This was physics in action, and it will be there when they need it! They jumped, shook, moved their entire bodies and got a great workout as a bonus! This is great for hands that don’t like to get very messy. Have a blast!

Set-Up for Episode #3:

Different types of empty boxes or containers (pizza and shoe boxes are great for this!)
Paper (of any kind)
Paint (works best with water-based, tempera)
small cups for marbles in paint
Spoons
Tape (in those cases where the paper moves more than the marbles!)
A visit to your local library (for book tips, visit our BookTip page!)

There are so many different ways of approaching this artsy activity. I posted a basic one and you and your children will turn it inside out. Let us know how many other ways you have used these marbles.

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Have fun and go beyond the classroom!

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