Bubble Wrap Sensory Art: Rain Boot Craft for Kids

They say art imitates life. With that said, I'll give you one guess as to what life in California has been like recently. 

I've lived in California all of my 51 years and have never seen so much rain. In a normal year, we get a few rainy days here and there during winter and early spring. Recently, "normal" has meant "drought." So all this rain, while needed, just feels so strange. 

This simple craft starts with a neat sensory experience that kids of all ages will love. (I'm a good 30+ years past "kid" and I loved it.) You can easily adapt this project for different ability levels. Pre-cut the boots for preschoolers and toddlers to glue in place; challenge older kids to decorate the boots and pants or to add a sidewalk to their artwork. 

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Bubble Wrap Sensory Art: Rain Boot Craft 

Materials: 

• white paper
• paint
• bubble wrap, cut slightly larger than your paper
• scissors
• glue

Steps: 

Cover your workspace with newspaper, then squirt some paint onto the center of your white paper. I used two shades of blue. 

Cover the paper with the bubble wrap, bubble side touching the paint. 

Starting at the center and working outward, pop the bubbles. The paint will gently splash outward, but will be contained by the plastic wrap. There's no need to pop the bubbles that don't have paint under them, but feel free. I did. :)

Remove the bubble wrap and set the painting aside to dry. Cut out two boots and two legs from another piece of white paper. Cut a quadrilateral for a raincoat or skirt as well. 

Paint the boots, legs, and raincoat/skirt with the color/pattern of your choice. When everything is dry, glue the legs behind the boots, then glue them to the puddle. Glue the raincoat or skirt on top of that, then trim off any excess paper that sticks over the edge. 

While some say that art imitates life, others say that life imitates art. If that's the case, I'd better start making some sunshine-themed crafts!