Colored Masking Tape Art

Kids love stickers, but those often sport characters (a no-no at my school). Guess what? They love tape, too! At the easel or around the edge of a table covered in paper I set out small bits of different colors of tape. 2s often need an adult to show them that they can take the tape off the side of the table and stick it wherever they like. 3s usually have an idea of what to do or they figure it out on their own. I also usually leave a few rolls of tape out for those who want to try ripping or cutting their own pieces. And if you have someone who is really, really desperate for stickers, you can cut tape into little squares or rectangles and put those bits on wax paper for the whole sticker procedure.

Once the tape art is complete, kids can take it home right away. No drying time! If tape is old hat, have them cover their tape with paint, markers, or crayon. Then, lift off the tape to see what happens. Now have art using the resist technique and you can talk about positive and negative images and space.

You really can never have too much masking tape, or have too many colors, or have it in too many sizes. My own children like to use it to wrap small toys with paper into "presents" for me. It's very sweet, and they get practice with three dimensional art. They also like to completely cover a paper towel tube and call it a telescope for imaginative play.