Paper Towel Quilts - Teach Math!

WOW, have you ever seen such brilliant color? Not since tie-dye t-shirts have colors stood out as brightly as they do with Colorations® Liquid Watercolor on paper towels. What an easy and inexpensive way to collaborate on a group art activity for classrooms, birthday parties, family reunions or any group event. There's nothing like a handmade quilt to convey the idea that each individual is an important and equal member of the group. This colorful quilt is done with 2-ply paper towels (use the more expensive brands, as thicker papers absorb more color.) Bounty brand paper towels are currently sold in squares (not rectangles) so they make particularly nice geometric design quilts.

Prepare for this project by pre-filling Colorations® Liquid Watercolor into "bingo bottles". Purchase plain white 2-ply paper towels, white glue, and backing material or something to mount your squares onto. I use "Cooperative Mural Art" material but you can also use white or black butcher paper. To create each quilt square, refer to the set up shown here. Take a paper towel and fold it 4 times to 1/4 it's original size. Paint each corner a different color, dabbing on paint from the pre-filed bingo bottles. Children as young as 3 can typically manage this, but older children and even adults love the process too. By painting each corner a different color, you automatically get a repeat pattern when you open up your square to it's original size. What a fun way to reinforce math concepts like shape, pattern, and symmetry. Allow to dry, then glue mount each colorful square onto Cooperative Mural Art or butcher paper. Hang in a prominent spot, and get ready for some admiration!

Materials You'll Need:
- Colorations Liquid Watercolor (Item #LW)
- Bingo Bottles (Item #BING)
- Cooperative Mural Art Material (Item #LSMAT)
- White glue for mounting
- Paper plates or art trays to work on

Have fun!