Lately it has been very hot and I was thinking that a great summer time art project for kids to try at home is the sun prints art project. Since there has been plenty of hot sun with the temperatures we have been experiencing lately, This is an interesting and fitting art project for the summer. This is a very easy project and although are many suggestions about trying this project with  paper that is especially made for sun prints, I think it is better to try to use what you have at home for ease and convenience. It also makes it easier to be able to try this project on the spur of the moment.

 

SunPrintsSupplies

SunPrintsSupplies

 

Supplies

acrylic paint

fabric or thick paper or a t-shirt with a content of at least 50% cotton content

paint brushes

containers for paint

spray bottle filled with water

plastic covered board

items for the designs, items from nature or cardboard cutouts, metal washers, string, etc.

 

I decided for my video of this process I would use a t-shirt I had which happened to be pink. Although I have heard that it is better to use 100% cotton, this t-shirt is 50% cotton and 50% polyster and it worked fine. I cut shapes out of cardboard and used a plastic yogurt cup for my design. The plastic cup worked best and the cardboard was ok but it was a little tricky getting the cardboard to stay flat.  My suggestion would be when doing this project with kids to use items that are as rigid as possible. Metal would be a good suggestion and string. Bottle caps and lids would be a good choice also

 

 

 

It was exciting after waiting several hours of letting the t-shirt sit in the sun to be able to lift up the mask items to see the design it had left. It created a sun with rays type of design. The next step is to heat set the design with a warm iron. Kids would love this process and it is easy to make the Sun Prints Kids Art Project.  Please give it a try and let me know how you like it on the comment form below.

 

 

sunPrintsTshirtFinished desig

sunPrintsTshirtFinished desig

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Jan Watford
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Jan Watford

Manager at JCW Prism LLC
artist, author, illustrator
Jan Watford
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