Tie-Dye Flower Pot Summer STEAM Craft for Kids

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Create a colorful flower pot this spring or summer using a milk jug and sharpies! Tie-Dye Flower pot is a fun and easy STEAM craft for Kids.

Tie-Dye Flower Pot Summer STEAM Craft for Kids

Liquids like rubbing alcohol are solvents, which means they can dissolve things. In this craft, you’ll use rubbing alcohol to dissolve permanent marker and create a cool tie-dye pattern on your very own flowerpot. 

How to Make Tie-Dye Flower Pot Summer STEAM Craft for Kids

Caution: Ask an adult to cut the milk jug in half and be careful not to get the permanent markers on any other surfaces. Rubbing alcohol should not be put in your mouth. 

  1. Cut a milk jug in half just below the handle.
Tie-Dye Flower Pot Summer STEAM Craft for Kids
  1. Remove the cap and place the top part of the jug inside the bottom part, upside down.
  2. Decorate all over the outside of the milk jug with colorful permanent markers.
  1. Place a small amount of rubbing alcohol into a bowl and grab an eye dropper. 
  2. Cover your surface with a piece of cardboard.
  3. Stand your milk jug up right on the cardboard. Carefully drip rubbing alcohol down the sides of the milk jug using the eye dropper. Do this one drop at a time. Watch the colors mix! If you don’t like your design, wipe it off with a paper towel and start again.
  1. Once you’re satisfied, set it aside to dry for 5 minutes. 
  2. (Optional) Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to protect your design from getting scraped off. Set it aside to dry for 30 minutes.
  3. Fill the inner jug with soil and plant a flower. Add water to the outer part. This flower pot is self-watering! Your plant will drink the water as needed!

Tie-Dye Flower Pot Crafty Challenge: Try using only primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and creating new colors by adding the rubbing alcohol. What colors come from mixing red and yellow together, red and blue together, and yellow and blue together?

STEAM Stamp: Permanent markers are solvents, which are solid things that can be dissolved in liquids.  Another common solvent is salt, which dissolves easily in water. 

Age Suitability For Tie-Dye Flower Pot

This activity is good for kids 5 years and up. My kids are 4, 4, and 8 year old.

Mess Level

This is a mess level medium.

Difficulty to Create Tie-Dye Flower Pot

Medium.

Skills Developed in Tie-Dye Flower Pot

Language development, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, imaginative play, creativity.

Supplies

(This post and list contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please visit my disclosure policy for more information.)

  • 1 Empty, clean gallon milk jug
  • Scissors or craft knife
  • Permanent markers (such as Sharpies)
  • Isopropyl rubbing alcohol (91%)
  • 1 Eye dropper
  • 1 Bowl
  • Piece of cardboard 
  • 1 Paint brush
  • Mod Podge (Optional)

Check out My Books, TV Show & Play Kits!

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

26+ Simple & Fun Summer STEAM and Science Activities for Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

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Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more. 

Find out more and grab your copy here.

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids – coming out September 27, 2022

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TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to finally share my new crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched July 1 at on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube!

This show is all about fun and easy crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. 

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create. 

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!

26+ Simple & Fun Summer STEAM and Science Activities for Kids

Shop our ready made play kits here.

WILL YOU TRY TIE-DYE FLOWER POT CRAFT WITH YOUR KIDS? PIN IT FOR LATER

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