Your kids will want to make 1,000 marker and foil prints, and the best part is you probably already have the supplies on hand! These have been a favorite of ours for years, and they’ll become a favorite of yours, too.
Marker and foil prints are a preschool classic
Preschool teachers of the past have handed down many activities that preschool teachers of the present still cannot get enough of.
- Handprint art? Invented by the greats.
- Play dough tables? Created back in ancient times.
- Fingerpainting? Dates back 2.3 billion years.
- Marker and foil prints? The stuff of legends.
They are easy, inexpensive, and GORGEOUS. (No, seriously, gorgeous.)
Related: Add some festive fun to your Fall with a giant 10-foot Fall-themed coloring page!
Why marker and foil prints won’t ever go out of style
When coming up with art for kids, we often want it to be
Easy – simple supplies + simple steps
Process-based – no two pieces are identical + kids can use their creativity
Beautiful – not always important, but usually preferred by kids + adults
Marker and foil prints check off all the boxes.
Whenever I do this activity, I always end up making 5x the amount I think I will because it’s fun and satisfying from beginning to end. We make these all year, but we had to make leaves after seeing how beautiful they were when The Best Ideas for Kids made them.
Materials
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- Washable markers – your regular Crayola markers are perfect
- Paper – the thicker, the better (ex: watercolor paper or cardstock), but it will work on any paper
- Black permanent marker
- Spray bottle filled with water
- Aluminum foil – you can reuse one sheet over and over
How to make marker and foil prints
- Use the back permanent marker to draw leaves on your paper, having fun with different sizes, shapes, and leaf varieties
- Draw on the foil with the washable markers, adding as much color as possible
- Spray the foil with water until it’s wet but not so wet that it’s mixing the colors up completely
- Pull your print by laying your paper marker-side down on the foil, rubbing the paper, and then lifting up
When your paper is lifted from the foil, the marker will transfer…and hold onto your socks because this is about to knock them off!
Does Sharpie write on foil?
For this project, you want to use washable markers so that the color will transfer when wet.
However, you can also color on aluminum foil with Sharpies for a beautiful but different project.
Sharpies look beautiful on foil, but you won’t be able to pull prints because they’re permanent.
Use Sharpies for some of our other favorite art projects, too:
- Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Planets
- Rainbow Drawing Activity
- Sunflower Still Life Drawing Activity
- Outdoor Name Art Activity
How to make marker and foil prints all year long
Here, we made leaves for Fall, but you can certainly do this project anytime.
To make some seasonal art, instead of leaves, you could draw:
- Hearts at Valentine’s Day
- Rainbows at St. Patrick’s Day
- Fireworks at the Fourth of July
- Flowers for Spring
- Snowflakes for Winter
This project can be easily adapted, and they’re beautiful no matter when you make them.
FAQ
Any that safely use the materials! We do this project with our 3-6 year old preschoolers and older.
Normal kids drawing markers usually work! You just want to make sure whatever you’re using isn’t permanent.
I prefer using watercolor paper (what I used here), but cardstock and other paper will work, too.
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