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Elmer’s Glue Gel Batik: Fun & Easy Kids’ Craft Project

07/22/2013

Elmer's Glue Gel Batiks: kid-friendly art project @ AllOurDays.com

[tweetherder]This Elmers Glue Gel Batik is a great art project for kids of all ages[/tweetherder]. There are so many possibilities and ways to personalize these creations.

As long as your child is old enough to use paint they’ll be able to get fantastic results with this Glue Gel Batik.

While this project is easy, there are multiple steps and several drying times. Just keep in mind that this isn’t a one day process.

Elmer's Glue Gel Batiks: kid-friendly art project @ AllOurDays.com

(This post contains affiliate links ~ for more information please read our full disclosure.)

Materials

  • Fabric ~ white works best, anything that can be painted and machine washed, cloth napkins, aprons, canvas totes, t-shirts, etc.
  • Elmer’s Glue Gel ~ this was a bit difficult to find in our area, we bought ours at Hobby Lobby (also available online), it might be easier to find during the back-to-school season…so if you find it, stock up 🙂 Elmer’s Glue Gel is available through Amazon. A sales associate at our local Ace Hardware also said they could order it and have it shipped to their store (this could possibly save you the shipping fees).
  • Acrylic Craft Paint
  • Paint Brushes ~ foam brushes work well for younger children
  • Wax Paper

Instructions

Cover your work surface with wax paper. Use the blue Elmer’s Glue Gel to “draw” a design on your fabric.

Elmer's Glue Gel Batiks: kid-friendly art project @ AllOurDays.com

Wherever you put glue will remain white. We chose to get an early start on Christmas presents by decorating some cloth napkins. I simply purchased white napkins at Walmart. They come in 2-packs for $1.97.

For this project, I chose to draw the glue designs, but older children can easily draw their own. The glue bottles were a little difficult for our kiddos to manage. Let the glue dry completely, this will take at least several hours.

Elmer's Glue Gel Batiks: kid-friendly art project @ AllOurDays.com

Then, paint your fabric with acrylic paint. Make sure your work surface is covered. You can water the paint down a little to make it easier to work with and help it stretch further. Keep in mind that the colors will fade a little throughout the process.

We didn’t water down the paint for these first napkins, but we ended up with some thickly painted spots that took forever to dry and the finished napkins were a little stiff. For our next round, we’ll water the paint down a little to make it easier for the kids to spread around without it clumping.

(Check back next week for project #2 and the results of watered down paint and Dollar Tree spray bottles.)

Remember, the glue lines will be white, so you’ll want to cover the rest of the fabric with paint so your glue design will show up.

Glue Batik: Fun and Easy Kids' Craft Project @ AllOurDays.com   Glue Batik: Fun and Easy Kids' Craft Project @ AllOurDays.com   Glue Batik: Fun and Easy Kids' Craft Project @ AllOurDays.com

Allow the paint to dry completely before continuing. This could take a day or two. Everything has to be completely dry before you wash the glue away or some of the color will wash away as well!

Fill your sink or a large bin with very warm water and let your painted fabric soak for 20 minutes. The glue will begin to dissolve to reveal your design. You can help the glue dissolve faster by rubbing the fabric together or scraping at the glue with your fingernail. On cotton or canvas fabric you can also use an old toothbrush or nail brush to scrub the glue off.

Glue Batik: Fun and Easy Kids' Craft Project @ AllOurDays.com

Here you can see where the glue has peeled off to show the white fabric underneath.

Glue Batik: Fun and Easy Kids' Craft Project @ AllOurDays.com

Once all of the glue is off, allow your projects to dry. Then heat set the paint by placing the fabric in the dryer (on the highest heat recommended for your fabric) for about 10 minutes. Wash and dry painted fabric separately the first few times.

Here are our finished napkins.

Elmer's Glue Gel Batik Cloth Napkins: a great kid-made gift @ AllOurDays.com

We have a couple more Elmer’s Glue Gel Batik projects in the works, so be sure to check back next week for even more batik fun! (Next week’s batik methods are even easier…perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and big kids, too.)

Have you ever tried glue batiks? What art project have your kids enjoyed recently?

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts 17 Comments

Comments

  1. Val says

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    So fun! How have these held up over time? How quickly do the colors fade? Thanks for the great tutorial!

    Reply
  2. Lucia says

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    Great project, I will try this with my students.
    Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  3. Julia Davis says

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    I love these! I would like try using crayola fabric paint and or fabric paint. Batik would be a great back to school art project for this art teacher. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
  4. Gina says

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    Love it! We need a painting activity!

    Reply
  5. Nici says

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    This project is awesome! I plan on trying it with my kiddos real soon. Thanks so much for linking this up to last week’s All Things Thursday Blog Hop! I have picked it as one of my features from the party. Hope you’ll be back tonight to link up more of your wonderful projects!
    Blessings,
    Nici

    Reply
  6. iGameMom says

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    These are beautiful. Will feature you on iGameMom tonight http://wp.me/p2t50R-1XO (will be live after midnight). Thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library.

    Reply
  7. Joanne Viola says

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    What a great activity to do with kids. I love getting ideas like this one. Thank you for sharing! I visited from The Better Mom 🙂
    Blessings,
    Joanne

    Reply
  8. Trish @ Uncommon Designs says

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    These are fabulous! Thanks for sharing with us this week at Monday Funday!

    Take care,

    Trish

    Reply
  9. Elizabeth Baker says

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    You can get a fabric medium, add it to your paint. It is an inexpensive alternative to fabric paint, and allows for less washing time ect. It also retains the colors better. …

    Reply
  10. Krissy of B-Inspired Mama says

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    These turned out beautiful!

    Reply
  11. Rebecca says

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    These are so colorful! What a neat gift idea. I can’t wait to do it with my kids.

    Reply
    • Tim, Allyson & kids says

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      Next week we’re posting an even easier method using spray bottles. The second method was definitely a simpler process with kids the ages of ours.

      Reply
  12. Reshama says

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    Wow! Those came out really well. The kids did a great job!
    -Resh @ StackingBooks.com

    Reply
  13. Mary Catherine says

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    Hi there! I’m stopping by from Mom’s Library. I LOVE batik fabrics for quilting and other projects. Your activity with the kids is awesome! I’m going to pin this to try with my son (and maybe my preschoolers)!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Glue Batiks with a Toddler | Inventing Fun says:
    at

    […] Here is All Our Days blog’s many day project they did one with non watered down paint, instructions here. […]

    Reply
  2. Painted Napkins | Two Clever MomsTwo Clever Moms says:
    at

    […] been looking for projects to do in the afternoon when everyone needs a quiet project.  I saw this napkin project that I loved for two reasons: we use fabric napkins all the time and the project seemed doable […]

    Reply
  3. More Fine Motor Activities for Kids – Mom’s Library says:
    at

    […] Hand Painted Glue Batiks is fun and requires fine motor skills and patience, but you will be amazed how easy it is and how […]

    Reply

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