DIY rainbow scratch art paper the easy way

Rainbow scratch paper, create the planets, sun, and any other pattern, kids will be amazed by the beautiful colorful pictures they create. Simple scratch the black coating and reveal stunning effects hiding just beneath the surface. Magical rainbow cardboard easy, safe, clean, and nontoxic, great for developing kids creative intelligence. Creative kids can jot notes, etch doodles, and make mini-masterpieces whenever inspiration strikes with this engraving cardboard pad.

1. First we covered paper with oil pastel drawings until the entire sheet was full of color.
2. Then we painted over the oil pastel with a layer of black BioColor paint.
3. Finally, we scratched our pictures and designs through the surface of the wet paint with toothpicks and Q-tips.

What makes this scratch art process easier than most… We used oil pastels rather than crayons and scratched our design through the wet paint which was both easier and quicker than if we had waited for the paint to dry.

Paper size: Smaller sheets of paper will be quicker to fill with color. I cut our color paper in half, but you could go even smaller.
Age: It’s important to fill the entire sheet with color, so this project works better with preschoolers on up who can/will do that. For toddlers, you can make the magic scratch paper for them and let them do the final step of scratching designs in the paper.
Oil pastels vs crayons: You can also use crayons, but oil pastels are easier and quicker, especially for younger kids.
Q-tips and toothpicks: We started with Q-tips in the wet paint for a wider line. Maia preferred the toothpicks…and Daphne liked to use both the Q-tips and toothpicks together.
Wet vs dry: We made our scratch art pictures and designs while the paint was still wet and it worked great. We tried letting some dry first and found that the paint flaked off more unevenly (see the lines I did at the left of the face above).
Paint type: The BioColor paint we used needed two layers to coat the oil pastel layer perfectly. We didn’t usually do two layers though and liked it fine with a bit of color peaking through. You can add a couple drops of liquid dish soap to make it coat the oil pastels more evenly although we didn’t at the beginning. We also tried acrylics, which coated better than the BioColor, and tempera paint.
We tested tempera paint vs BioColor paint with and without dish soap and did all the scratch art designs after the paint dried. The three at the top were made with tempera paint and Daphne did the scratch art, which as you can see is barely visible. The three at the bottom were made with BioColor paint and Maia did the scratch art.
I recommend giving this DIY scratch art activity a try with your kids!