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Home / Early Learning / Preschool Arts and Crafts / Marbled Christmas Cards with Preschoolers

Marbled Christmas Cards with Preschoolers

Shared by Mary Catherine 3 Comments

Learn how to make marbled Christmas cards with your students! Be sure to add this to your list of Christmas activities for preschoolers.

shaving cream swirled together with paint to look like marble and a card that has been dipped in the paint and the text marbled art christmas card

Related: Christmas Five Senses Book Free Printable

Over the summer, our preschool campers made homemade marbled cards for their families. We had such a blast that I wanted to recreate it for the holidays! The children loved the process of making the cards, so it was a win-win.

Table of Contents

  • Marbled Christmas Cards
    • Materials
    • How to Make Marbled Christmas Cards with Kids
    • A Few Tips and a Word About Paints
  • More Ideas for Homemade Christmas Cards
  • Christmas Resources for Preschool Teachers

Marbled Christmas Cards

We had such a blast making these homemade Christmas cards with the marbling process! It can get a bit messy, but I think that just adds to the fun.

Materials

Below are the various items we used when making the marbled Christmas cards. You can make adjustments to this list based on what you already have on-hand. We enjoyed testing out different types of paint, but you can always just choose one type for your own cards!

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

  • Shaving cream
  • Shallow pan or tray
  • Toothpick or plastic knife
  • Card stock, construction paper, or white cards
  • Paints – we used the following:
    • Glittery liquid watercolors
    • Tempera paint
    • Acrylic paint
shaving cream that has been squirted into a pile on a tray

Related: Snowman Fingerprint Ornament

How to Make Marbled Christmas Cards with Kids

First, spray shaving cream onto a shallow tray. Then spread it into a mostly-even layer.

It doesn’t have to be very tall – just enough that none of the tray below is peaking through.

shaving cream that has been smoothed to fill a tray

Then, add little drops of paint sporadically onto the top of the shaving cream. I just let the kiddos do this straight from the paint bottles.

If that doesn’t work with your children, they could use eye droppers for watercolors or paint brushes for other paints.

red and green drops of paint on top of shaving cream that has been smoothed into a tray

Related: Messy Art

Once the paint is placed to your liking, use a toothpick or plastic knife to marble the paints together.

When I showed the preschool children how to do this, I likened it to connecting the dots and slicing into the shaving cream.

red and green paint swirled together in shaving cream to resemble marble

Related: Christmas Process Art

Take the paper (we used white cards) and place it face down on top of the shaving cream and paint.

Gently press the card into the shaving cream, rubbing along the entire piece of paper.

This is how the paint is transferred to the paper, thus creating a print.

a blank white card pressed into shaving cream that has marbled paint swirls in it

Gently remove the paper/card and place on another tray, face up.

Using a sturdy piece of cardboard or a ruler, press down and wipe the entire length of the card. This removes the shaving cream, but leaves the paint behind. Let everything dry!

a card that has been made from marbled shaving cream

Once the paper is dry, fold it in half to create a card (if not using a card). Let the children ooh and aah at their beautiful marbled Christmas cards!

a beautiful pattern made from marbled shaving cream on a homemade christmas card

Related: Pony Bead Christmas Tree

Then let the kids write their Christmas greetings inside the cards!

If there is paint on the inside of the card, cut out a piece of white paper and let the children write on that.

Then glue or tape the message inside the card!

A Few Tips and a Word About Paints

Be sure not to roughly mix the shaving cream and paint together, as that doesn’t yield a marbled effect.

You will likely notice some streaking after you’ve scraped off the shaving cream. If it bothers you, be sure to use a very steady hand and something long and even like a metal ruler.

Depending on the thickness of the paper, there may be some curling along the edges once everything is dry. We fixed that by placing some heavy books on top of the cards for a while.

I let the preschoolers choose which paints they wanted to use. I had green and red tempera, acrylic, and glitter watercolors available.

The acrylic paint yields the boldest colors, with the watercolors creating a pastel-like effect. The tempera paint seemed to come out in between.

No matter the paint, the children loved how their marbled art cards came out!

a red, green, and yellow marbled pattern on a homemade christmas card

Related: Christmas Popsicle Stick Crafts to Make with Preschoolers

Please keep in mind that acrylic paints aren’t really washable if they get on clothes (not all tempera paints are, either). I had the kids wear smocks while they painted, just to be sure!

Have you ever tried shaving cream marbling? Would your child like making a homemade Christmas card this way?

More Ideas for Homemade Christmas Cards

If your students love making marbled Christmas cards, and we know some preschoolers really do, then be sure to check out these additional ideas:

  • Washi Tape Christmas Cards from Mama Smiles
  • Washi Tape Baubles from Crafty Kids at Home
  • Buttons and Cardboard Cards from Teach Me Mommy
  • Hanging Star Card from Witty Hoots
  • Nativity Thank You Cards from 3 Dinosaurs
  • Gingerbread Man with Candy Cane from The Gingerbread House
  • Kid Made Fingerprint Wreath Card from Mum in the Madhouse
  • Merry and Bright Kids’ Christmas Cards from Books & Giggles
  • Santa Hat Christmas Card from Hands On As We Grow

Christmas Resources for Preschool Teachers

Save time planning (and, really, you can use all the time you have around the holidays!) with already done-for-you resources from Preschool Teacher 101. There are lesson plans, math and STEM activities, and literacy resources just for you! Be sure to check out the membership options for even more savings. You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click on the photos below for more information about Christmas resources:

Christmas lesson plans cover.
Christmas Lesson Plans
christmas tree roll and color
Christmas Roll and Color Games
Gingerbread Man Preschool Lesson Plans
Gingerbread Lesson Plans
two steps of the creative process and one image of the finished product with the text marbled christmas cards for kids

Originally published November 2015.

Filed Under: Preschool Arts and Crafts Tagged With: Christmas, Process Art

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Comments

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  1. Laura says

    November 30, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Kids would love making these Christmas cards!

    Reply
  2. Laura says

    December 23, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    i was wondering if i Can do this on a canvas with my kids ??? was wanting to do a christmas painting from kids ??

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      December 23, 2018 at 8:29 pm

      That is a great question, Laura! I’ve never done so, but now I want to try it out with the kids. I think it would work – just make sure you set up the surface of the shaving cream so it’s the right size for the canvas. If you try it before I do, be sure to let me know!!

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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