# Glue Resist Art
> Kids draw designs with white glue from squeeze bottles and let them dry overnight. The next day they brush a light watercolor wash over the page, and the dried glue lines resist the paint and show through.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/art-activities-kids-glue-resist-art/
- Ages: 3–8 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 15 min, activity 40 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 1 kids
- Skills: fine-motor, color-mixing, creativity, process-art

## Materials (one batch)
- White glue
- 1 piece Squeeze bottles
- 1 piece Watercolor blocks
- 1 sheet White paper
- 1 piece Paintbrushes (household)
- 1 piece Cup of water (household)
- 1 piece Toothpick (optional) (household)

## Safety
- White glue and watercolors are art supplies, not food. Supervise young children so they don't mouth them.
- If kids pick at drying glue with a toothpick, as the author's toddler did, supervise closely because the points are sharp.
- Supervise art play at all times.

## Before you start
- Pour some white glue into squeeze bottles, one per child.
- Plan two sessions: the glue designs need to dry, typically overnight, before painting.

## Steps
1. Give each child a squeeze bottle of glue and a white sheet of paper.
2. Squeeze the glue to draw designs on the paper: lines, swirls, shapes or flowers.
3. Let the glue dry, typically overnight, until it is hard.
4. Next day, wet the watercolor blocks with a little water.
5. Brush a very light wash of watercolor over the paper and the dried glue.
6. Try different colors side by side and watch the glue lines show through.
7. Paint a flower scene or any picture over your glue design.
8. Let the painting dry and admire the pattern the glue made.

## Tips
- Squeeze bottles work much better than glue straight from the container. The flow is smoother and the glue comes out in a better fashion.
- Use a very light wash of watercolor to see the effect. Can you see how the glue appears through the watercolors? Beautiful!
- My 5 year old was excited to see the next day that the glue had dried hard and her pattern looked very interesting.
- My daughter adored the few paint spots that landed on the glue.
- Have a toddler who can't wait for the glue to dry? Ours painted right over the wet glue and still made art she called "the prettiest, prettiest."

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

Just like many kids out there, mine adore painting and all kinds of [**art activities.**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) We have done plenty of art activities for kids in the past and recently we shared our [**spider web resist art**](https://www.funlittles.com/halloween-art-projects-crayon-resist-spider-web/)- just in time for **[Halloween](https://www.funlittles.com/category/halloween/).** Today we are sharing a fun new art activity which uses [**glue**](https://www.funlittles.com/homemade-glow-dark-window-clings/) as the primary ingredient. Our goal is to make art activities for kids as open ended as possible to nurture the kids' creativity and budding imagination. While following that golden rule we created beautiful pieces of art by simply using glue. **Materials**

- White Glue
- Water Colors
- Squeeze Bottles

For this art activity I **poured some white glue in squeeze bottles** and handed over the bottles to the children. The squeeze bottles work much better than using the glue from the container itself. The flow is smoother and dispenses the glue in a better fashion. The kids simply drew designs with glue on a white sheet of paper. We let the designs dry ( typically overnight) The following day my 5 year old was excited to see that the glue had dried hard and the pattern she created the day before looks very interesting. Now armed with water colors we were ready to have fun with the resist art activity. We used regular water color blocks. I suggested that she use a very light wash of water color to see the effect. Can you see how the glue appears through the watercolors? Beautiful!



She experimented with different colors on the dried glue which is what she does with many art activities *( see this beautiful [**Epsom salt painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/art-activities-epsom-salt-painting/) where we spent a great deal of time experimenting with contrasting and complementing colors)*



The resisting glue created a intricate pattern.



Of course we had to draw a flower scene to try out the new glue resist technique



I did a couple of images to try out this fun technique.



My daughter adored the few paint spots on the glue.



Ok this is what happens when you have a toddler around who just can't wait for the glue to dry. I loved her glue resist art too and she kept repeating" Mine is the prettiest, prettiest" all while picking at the drying glue with a toothpick. Gotta love your almost 3 year olds.



**Thanks for reading**

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For more [**art activities** v](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/)isit out category page