Painting with Gloop: Easy Art & Science Activity

I don’t know what to tell you… I am over-the-moon excited to share this activity with you. We had a blast! This turned out so much better than I could have imagined, so I really hope that you will give it a try! Painting with gloop was a perfect way to explore texture while enjoying the always amazing gloop (goo, ooblek, whatever you want to call it.)

art and science! perfect for steam! process painting with gloop! this looks like so much fun!

Recommended Grade Level:

Supply List
Coordinating Activities

Materials for the Gloop Painting Activity

Corn Starch
Liquid Watercolors
Water
Paint Brushes
Paper

To Prep:

For each color mix 1 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 cup liquid watercolor.

Mix each color in a separate bowl. Ours fit well in cereal bowls.

Normally, gloop is made by using a 2:1 ratio of cornstarch to water, but we quickly discovered that it would be too thick to work with. Adding the extra liquid still allowed for the awesome reaction that we all love in gloop while still allowing it to be moldable enough to paint.

We tried several different methods of painting.

First, we poured the gloop into a shallow baking pan creating strands of color throughout the pan.

this art and science activity would be perfect for a steam lesson!

Then, we laid the black paper on top of the gloop and pressed gently. We pulled the paper off the gloop and discovered some awesome drip art!

Rissa attempted to do a mono-print by painting a picture on one piece of paper and pressing a second piece down on top.

She quickly discovered that science got in the way of her great idea! Because of the liquid to solid properties of gloop, the small amount of gloop became a solid with her pressure and didn’t transfer very well to the second piece of paper.

exploring solids and liquids while creating art is a fantastic activity for steam!

We also decided to check out splatter painting! This was SO.MUCH.FUN!

It was amazing to see that the gloop did not go flat like a traditional paint would have. Instead it created tiny beads of paint all over the paper.

I love when science and art come together to make a beautiful creation!

Of course, splatter painting did mean a bit of mess, but I had planned ahead and we were outside, so the kids kept on exploring.

this paint with gloop activity is amazing! great for a steam project!

After we had some fun with the splatter painting, Rissa decided to switch to her favorite form of art, pointellism. This is the art of creating things using only dots. She loves to have me scroll through Pinterest, so she can look at the different works of art there.

This did involve some trial and error as she worked to make the gloop create what she was envisioning. She discovered that because of the liquid to solid nature, she needed to press very gently or the dots would harder and stick to the paint brush as she raised it up again.

She stuck with it though and created an awesome work of art.