I have been on the lookout for an interesting yet simple art project for Easter, and I have to say that after spending the afternoon trying this out with my 4-year-old son, this is possibly the most fun art project I’ve ever done! The end results are gorgeous in my opinion, but the actual process of creating the art was the really spectacular part! Here’s where I first saw the idea.

Materials needed

• Cookie sheet or tray larger than a sheet of card stock
• Card stock in white, cream, pastels, or other Easter colors
• Shaving cream (preferably not the gel kind)
• Paint or food coloring
• Fork or toothpick
• Squeegee or butter knife
• Scissors

Directions

Spray a cookie sheet with a liberal amount of shaving cream. Use your hands to spread it out evenly in the pan as best possible. Squirt various colors of paint here and there on top of the shaving cream. We used washable Crayola finger-paint and tempera paint, but any paint or even food coloring will work. Use a fork or toothpick to gently swirl the paint to create a marbled effect. Don’t over mix! We used a fork and worked it across in a wavy pattern. I actually stopped at this point and took several photos because it looked amazing!

Next, take a sheet of card stock and lay it on top of the shaving cream mix. Press it down all over, and then lift straight up. Set it aside for a few minutes; we put ours on newspaper. Meanwhile, you can press other pages into the mix, adding more shaving cream and paint if needed.

After a few minutes, use a squeegee or the flat edge of a butter knife to scrape all the shaving cream and paint off the paper; the color from the paint will be left behind. Allow the paper to dry. While we waited, my son happily washed the cookie sheet and squeegee in the kitchen sink.

Once the paper is dry, cut out Easter egg shapes and use in desired projects. We used ours to make Easter greeting cards and a banner to hang on the mantel above our fireplace! When my 2-1/2 year old came down from naptime, her big brother excitedly showed her our handiwork, and she exclaimed, “Beautiful!”

I can’t wait to try more shaving cream painting with the both of them! Happy Easter!

Genny is a former Wake County Public School System elementary and reading teacher, who is now a stay-at-home mom of two preschoolers in Cary. Read more on her blog In Lieu of Preschool and Facebook page.