This is such a fun way to explore magnets in a minimal-mess-free way- painting with magnets!
It was warm out and the boys wanted to paint. We were learning about magnets this week, so I tried finding a way to mix the two together.
I hopped onto Google and within a few seconds I found this video from TheDadLab. He has some incredible projects that he does with his kids.
What you will need:
- Paper Plates
- Magnets
- Paint (at least 2 colors)
- Paper Clips (or anything that will stick to the magnet)
- Popsicle Sticks (Optional)
The magnets I had in the house weren’t very big or strong, so I stuck them onto popsicle sticks for the boys to hold on to. It worked well because it kept the mess to almost non-existent.
How to paint with magnets:
Put two colors of paint on either side of the plate (put a thin layer – our paint was too thick so the paper clips got stuck) then put the paper clip in the middle. Put the magnet underneath the plate and move the paper clips through the paint.
The boys enjoyed it for a few minutes, but they were a bit underwhelmed. I believe the magnets we used weren’t strong enough. They had to move slowly else they lost their paper clip.
Nonetheless, they loved it and we’ll definitely be adding stronger and bigger magnets to our art box to do this again! We hope you enjoy your painting with magnets activity!
hi there,,
It looks like you’ve put a lot of work into this. your method is really nice and simple but effective. thanks for sharing many many good things.