Paint Bomb Art

The artists and their finished explosively awesome art

Christy in Pepin sent in another great post about making Exploding Paint Bombs at her summer storytime.  The basic instructions are here, but Christy had a few extra tips for librarians considering doing this at home.

The work in progress

1. We used an "assembly line" to do this.  I filled the baggies with vinegar mixture and paint color of their choice, zipped them shut, gave the child a baking soda packet and sent them down the paper to a dad who opened the baggie, had the child drop in the packet, shake the bag and toss it onto the paper.

2. You can use a little tape to keep the baking soda packets closed.

3. The more vinegar mixture the quicker it reacts.  I had premixed the vinegar and water. It wasn't warm by fun time, so temperature may change the speed of the explosions.   I measured the first baggie (3/4 cup) and after that just guessed. 

4. Once the baking powder packets go in the baggie shake just a bit.  Watch them.  As soon as they start to expand put them down.

5. Keep a safe distance just in case they explode toward someone and paint them. 

We did have a quick reaction baggie so one of the boys got some paint mixture on his arm, while another had it on both legs.  Dad & I took each of them into the library and immediately washed them off with no staining to their skin.  I didn't check my grandson's shorts for paint - they were black, but his sandals washed clean.  Once back outside everyone had fun again--it was touch and go for a minute after he got sprayed.  The volunteer was also a good sport about needing to get new sandals.  After the first spray he just took them off. Maybe being barefoot for everyone might be the last tip.

For a video of the excitement, check Pepin's Facebook Page.