# Cotton Rounds Art
> Drip, squirt, pour and paint colored liquids onto cotton rounds and watch the colors travel through the fibers. Compare liquid watercolors, watered-down tempera and food-color water, and different tools, in this open-ended color-mixing art activity for any season.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/art-projects-for-preschoolers-and-toddlers-cotton-rounds-art/
- Ages: 2–5 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 10 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 2 kids
- Skills: color-mixing, observation, science, fine-motor, patterns, open-ended-art
- Cautions: food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 10 piece Cotton rounds
- Liquid watercolors (or homemade: markers soaked in water)
- Tempera paint, watered down (optional)
- Food coloring (mixed into water) (optional)
- 5 piece Small clear cups for the colors (household)
- 1 piece Medicine dropper
- 1 piece Paint brushes
- 1 piece Spoons (household)
- Ribbed cleansing pads (drugstore) (optional)
- 1 piece Paper, plate or tray to work on (household)

## Substitutions
- Instead of liquid watercolors: Watered-down tempera paint or food-color water (Both were tried in the post. The colors travel less, but you still get bright rounds.)
- Instead of food color: Liquid watercolors or marker water (Avoids food dye, though these can stain too.)
- Instead of medicine dropper: Spoons or paint brushes (Easier for toddlers who find the dropper hard to use gently. Brushes make different patterns.)
- Instead of cotton rounds: Ribbed cleansing pads (Different surface, very different patterns.)

## Safety
- Supervise toddlers closely so they don't mouth the wet cotton rounds or drink the colored water. Marker water and paint are not drinks.
- Food color, liquid watercolors and marker water can stain hands, clothes and surfaces. Cover the table and dress kids for mess.
- Small cotton rounds and dropper parts can be a choking risk for very young children. Keep an adult at the table.

## Before you start
- Make liquid watercolors by soaking markers in water.
- Water down some tempera paint.
- Mix food coloring into water.
- Pour each color into its own small cup.

## Steps
1. Set out cups of colored liquid, droppers, brushes, spoons and a pile of cotton rounds on paper or a tray.
2. Fill a dropper with color and squirt it gently and slowly onto a cotton round.
3. Watch the colors move and soak through the fibers of the cotton round.
4. Paint a round with watered-down tempera using a brush, and compare it with a dropper round.
5. Drip several colors on one round, working in layers, to make multicolored rounds.
6. Turn a round over and try the other side to see the difference.
7. Try a ribbed cleansing pad and make a picture, like a face, with drips.
8. Lay all the finished rounds side by side and talk about the different patterns.

## Tips
- To actually see the absorption, squirt or dab the color really gently and slowly. Our preschooler caught on quickly.
- The old 'marker soaked in water' trick makes liquid watercolors, and it worked pretty good.
- Watered-down tempera works relatively well, but the color barely travels through the fibers. Our younger one was eager to use brushes with it.
- Food-color water didn't have enough color to travel through the fibers and just soaked the rounds. Yet the colors were fantastic.
- Toddlers may have a hard time being gentle with the dropper. It doesn't matter. Ours just loved splashing and 'playing with colors' next to big sis.
- The difference between painted rounds and dropper rounds is dramatic. It's worth pointing out to kids.
- Ribbed drugstore cleansing pads make very different patterns from regular cotton rounds. Noticing these details is a great exercise for a preschooler.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

Today’s post is a part of the various fun and [**easy art projects for preschoolers**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) we have been sharing so far. However, most of art projects we have been sharing are Valentine’s day themed. This time we share an all-season one - we used cotton rounds to experiment with color and make art with it. I hope you have all seen our **[cotton rounds craft](https://www.funlittles.com/cotton-rounds-snowman-craft/).** After seeing the kids enjoy the our **[“just add water bleeding art”](https://www.funlittles.com/easy-art-project-for-kids-just-add-water-art/)** activity, we decided to do a combine both activities. The idea is to color mix and experiment with different colors on cotton rounds.

- Liquid water colors/ markers soaked in water
- Watered down tempera paint
- Colored water using food color/li>
- Cotton rounds
- Medicine dropper, spoons, paint brushes

 We used medicine dropper, brushes, spoons to pour, drop, splash water colors on the cotton rounds using 3 kinds of colored liquids

1. Liquid Water Colors I made liquid watercolors using the old “marker soaked in water” trick to make them and I must tell you that it worked pretty good. Using the dropper, the kids droped/squirted/poured water colors on cotton rounds and watched the patterns emerge.

 The colors travel through the fibers in the cotton rounds so beautifully that it is a treat to watch them soak up the cotton round. Big A was in awe! "Colors are moving, moving, wow!" But please take note to actually see the absorption, the squirts of color or dabs of colors should be done really gently and slowly which the pre schooler caught on.

 This activity is a fantastic, open ended art activity even for toddlers because let’s just face it- toddlers just love to splash colors all over. My toddler had a great time squirting, painting water colors all over the cotton rounds.Although she had a hard time being gentle with the medicine dropper but it doesn't matter she just loved being there with big sis “ playing with colors”



2. Watered down tempera paint also works relatively good. Although the color travel through fibers were virtually absent. My younger was eager to use brushes on this one.

 We noted the difference between painted cotton rounds and ones where we used a medicine dropper. The difference was dramatic. By engaging in these kind of art projects for preschoolers, I can personally see the way the older one is learning any new concepts – planning, observing, predicting, recognizing patterns and differences etc. Giving the child freedom to engage in open ended art activity turns a simple color squirting exercise into a fun and learning activity.

3. Water with food colors These did not have enough “color” in them to travel through the fibers and just plain soaked the cotton rounds. Yet, the colors were fantastic.

 Big A took the time to do numerous multi colored cotton rounds, working in layers, really! Check this out.

 It started off as a simple squirt water colors on cotton rounds but it transformed into much more. It is great to see a child’s mind at work when given just a couple of art supplies. Here she has created a face and also experimented with the other side of the cotton rounds to see the difference.

 I used a cleansing pad from a drugstore. You can see that the surface is ribbed and different from the cotton round. The patterns the colors make on this round is very different from the ones made on a regular cotton round. Observing these minor details are a great exercise for a pre schooler.



Thanks for reading

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