Blow Dart Painting

We love creating art in all types of ways using all kinds of materials. In the past we have created art using milk, painted on ice, and used our salad spinner to make spin art decorations. Today we invented a new way to make art: blow dart painting.

Don’t worry, there are no actual darts being used here! You will see below that all the supplies are safe, most likely items you already have at home. However, I did make a rule that the kids weren’t allowed to shoot each other in the face, just to be on the safe side. 🙂

Blow Dart Painting

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To do our blow dart painting we first gathered the following supplies:

• Cotton swabs
• Drinking straws
• Paint (We used glittery tempera, but any kind of paint will work.)
• Poster board

The kids dipped one end of a cotton swab in paint. They placed the cotton swab inside a drinking straw with the painted tip facing outward.

They aimed the dart at the poster board canvas and blew a puff of air into the drinking straw. All at once, the painted cotton swab shot out like a little dart!

My kids had so much fun with this creative activity. They LOVED the physical effort it took to fire the painted blow darts at their canvas. Every time they took aim, fired, and hit their target they jumped up and down, threw their hands in the air, and cheered!

Once in awhile the cotton swab stuck to the canvas for a minute and hung there, glued to the poster board with paint. My kids were so excited!

When they were tired of blow dart painting they painted a little bit using the cotton swabs as paint brushes. That was pretty fun, too.

You can do blow dart painting inside or out, depending on the weather and your needs. Blow dart painting is a fantastic rainy day activity to do when you need something a little bit unique to keep the kids entertained. We used washable paint for quick and easy cleanup of any misfired darts!

Stuck inside? Check out our other creative rainy day activities including blowing inside bubbles and making paper fliers.

200+ Painting Ideas –>

Be sure to check out Emma Owl’s Paint-a-Thon for more than 200 painting ideas for children!