Creating Splat Monsters

This is a really simple, yet fun activity which is a great way for kids to exercise their imagination and can result in some fabulous artwork.

There are no doubt numerous different ways in which you might create your monsters, but I chose to create my ‘splat monsters’ by dribbling several different colours of tempera paint onto paper. You can also tilt the paper about if you wish to move the paint and give yourself more ‘control’, but this isn’t really necessary. The ‘splat’ is then created by placing another piece of paper over the paint and pressing down – the amount of pressure you use, and how you move the paint beneath the paper with your fingers, will all influence the shape of the finished splat.  Then – the moment of truth – you remove the paper to reveal your potential splat monster.  Of course you also get a mirror image of the splat on the upper sheet of paper, so twin splat monsters can be made, and I found it especially interesting to see how my 2 very different children each interpreted the same splat.

Once the paint had dried the kids were let loose on turning their splats into monsters – details were drawn on using felt pen, googly eyes were added, and my elder son also chose to create feet using a paperclip as a stencil, and legs by printing using a piece of corrugated card.  All these were his own ideas – I just let him get on with it.

Of course at this stage you can add whatever you want to embellish your splat monster, whether it be feathers, pieces of wool, pom poms, whatever takes your fancy, or you have to hand really. And why stop at splat monsters, when you could use the technique to create splat animals, birds or insects….

And finally, a few tips for making the best splats:

• Mix a few colours of the paint you want to use first, into separate pots.
• Add a drop or two of water to the paint so that it is easier to pour, but don’t add too much as very runny paint doesn’t make such good splats.
• Don’t use too much paint when pouring it onto the paper – a little really does go a long way when you splat it.
• You don’t actually need to use a lot of pressure when splatting your dribbles of paint.

Happy Splatting!