Alright, alright, alright, I’m sure you’ve seen this marble roll activity before and have thought “what’s the hype?” Well guess what, I’m here to tell you that it REALLY IS THAT COOL! Ha ha, If you’ve never tried it before, then don’t be judgin’. I’m a grown adult and I will admit that I thoroughly enjoy this activity! SO, with that being said, if you’re studying dinosaurs and want to add a unique process art activity, give this one a try!

Materials Needed:

FREE dinosaur pages (included below!)
Marbles (small bouncy balls can work, too)
Art tray or baking tray
Paint
Tape

Instructions:

This activity really is so simple. With little prep and materials, you can get this one going in no time.

Download and print the Free Dinosaur pages below
Tape a dinosaur page to your art tray or baking tray
Squirt a small daub of paint on top of the dinosaur paper. You can use as many or as little colors as you would like! Two-three colors seems to be the sweet spot.
Throw some marbles onto your tray.
Tip the tray back and forth so that the marbles run through the paint and leave a trail as they roll around.
Continue until your dinosaur is painted to your liking.

When you’re finished and the dinosaur is dry, you can cut it out and glue it on a piece of colored construction paper to really make it pop!

While your child is having fun, here is what they are learning:

Motor skills as they tip the art tray back and forth without them rolling out.

Benefits of process art. They enjoy doing the process of art rather than focusing on a set outcome.
Sensory awareness as they use many of their senses to do this activity. They experience the noise of the marble rolling back and forth and the texture that the paint and marbles leave behind.