Create April Showers with a Watercolor Resist Stormy Day Craft for Kids

I learned the fine art of watercolor resist back in elementary school, third grade, if I remember correctly.  After the first time, you will realize how beautiful it can look after it's finished…and if you're like me, realize that you don't need to be so lazy the next time.  This craft does take time and elbow grease, but it is totally worth it in the end.  

Whenever there is any type of change…seasons, months, sometimes even days, the Captain gets in a crafty mood.  The other afternoon, he said, "Mommy, let's make a Spring craft!"  I love Pinterest as much as the next mom, but this time, I just consulted the crafts in my brain and came up with this stormy day craft for the boys.  I do not recommend this craft if you have a lazy unmotivated three year old who just recently began to actually enjoy coloring.  D became disinterested in about 2 seconds, after I instructed him to "color super hard!"  The Captain and I worked on this one together because he wasn't quite grasping the concept of "color super hard."  After seeing the final product though, they both get the idea and know that a little effort produces a beautiful picture.

So, here's what you do.  Gather your materials first:

• one piece of manila construction paper (or plain white paper will work, too)
• crayons (preferably the good ones, not the cheapos…you know what I mean)
• watercolors
• water
• paintbrush

Directions:

1. Draw a pretty picture of whatever your heart desires on the piece of paper.
2. Color in the picture.
3. Color harder on the picture to make all of the colors very dark, because every part that isn't colored will turn blue.  This is our picture before and clearly, we didn't color hard enough, but that doesn't really matter because we can just say it's rain that is on the trees and flowers in the final picture, right?

1. Get your watercolors and water and paint a layer of blue all over the picture.  You don't want it too dark, but make sure the whole picture is covered in blue paint.
2. Now, use a wadded up paper towel or old rag and gently blot the entire picture.  The crayon wax will repel the water, so you want to get all of the droplets off.

You'll end up with a beautiful picture of a stormy, rainy day!