Going to Africa this year, I've learned that drawing markers are not that wide available and affordable as they are in the US. I was glad I brought some with me but when I they ran out of ink, I had to find a way to make the most use out of them.
Through my experience, I found out that throwing dried out markers was a complete waste. After doing the soak in water to revive them two to three times, I found out that I reached a point when the tip of marker was done, finished, completely dry.
However, I realized that although the marker was dry on the outside, it was still full of bountiful ink on the inside! The ink that is inside the marker is contained into some sort of sponge that when squeezed, will release all of the liquid pigment just like an octopus. Once you you squeeze this liquid you have a pigment that you can use for all sorts of crafts.
I wanted a cheap, easy to deal base to welcome all this pigment goodness and so I thought of shaving cream! From that we ended up having a great paint made with literally just shaving cream and old markers! Talking about a money saver! Here's what you need to make this awesome, fun activity.
Tools
Instructions
You will not believe how easy it is to make your own paint at home with the stuff that you probably already have at home. Follow these easy steps to make fun paint.
step 1:
Cut the markers carefully and remove the ink reservoir inside.
step 2:
Add a few drops of water to one side of the reservoir and squeeze the drops into a container. Be careful, this ink is extremely pigmented so it will get everywhere and won’t come off of your finger easily.
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Once you have all the ink in the containers, add the shaving cream and mix it up.
For this activity I decided to use shaving cream to create a fun texture that could be manipulated with different tools, but the pigment can be added to water, oil, or even to homemade play-dough. So many uses!
And voila! Easy peasy creamy paint! This is a great lesson to show children not only how to be resourceful but also how to reuse things around the house before throwing them out.
This method was life saving when we were in Africa as we had to find ways to continue our world schooling journey. You can read more about it here.
Hope you enjoyed this awesome activity and make sure to subscribe to not miss any of my other homeschooling resources.