Hanukkah Art Activity – Black Glue & Watercolor Resist

This black glue resist craft is super fun for preschool and older and an easy, gorgeous Hanukkah art activity! If you want this in another theme, try the black glue Kotel art project too. This post contains affiliate links.

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A has been crazy bored on Sundays, so I decided to start running preschool-age “craft & play” sessions. We start with a main craft, do a fun sensory activity too, and usually have time for one or two more craft activities.

This past Sunday, I decided to take the templates I designed for my stained glass Menorah tray and turn one of them into a watercolor Hanukkah art activity. I did modify the final version that you’ll download at the end of this post to not be reversed, but you’ll see my template is reversed.

We also did these Hanukkah do a dot activities and made air dry clay Menorahs.

The kids had fun painting it in bright pops of colors and yes, the following images are kids’ actual projects.

Black Glue & Watercolors Hanukkah Art Activity

Black glue art is such a simple activity to do with kids, with results that are pretty much foolproof. You make the black glue by simply mixing some black acrylic craft paint into white school glue.

You do need to prepare the templates in advance but it literally took a minute per template, according to my video recordings. The rest of the craft the kids complete totally on their own.

Watercolors are a fabulous medium for preschoolers – they really can use them fully, and blend the colors well. The glue keeps the paint somewhat “in the lines” and they can be creative within the guidelines.

You can give the kids the project to trace on their own. If you do, I recommend preparing the glue in squeeze bottles, and only doing it with kids who know how to be careful with glue.

The biggest challenge with this Hanukkah art activity is tracing. You do want to use cardstock (or even better, watercolor paper) to give the water somewhere to go without tearing the paper. If you have a light board it’ll be a breeze, and I know many classrooms have something they can use to backlight the paper. I used my Cricut Brightpad Go.

How to do this watercolor Hanukkah art activity

Materials

• School glue (a bottle with some missing is ideal – otherwise mix it in a condiment squeeze bottle)
• Black acrylic paint
• A dowel or similar long stick to stir with
• Cardstock or watercolor paper
• Watercolor brushes or any brush that’s very absorbent
• Watercolor paints
• Recommended: a light board such as the Cricut BrightPad Go. If you have a craft projector such as the Smart Sketcher, you can use that instead (just upload an image to project to the app).
• The template printed on paper – download it at the end of this post.

Process

1. Pour some black paint into your glue. I added maybe a tablespoon or two. Mix it well. Test it on a random surface.

2. Place your template on a surface that’ll be easy to trace on. I used a light board. Place a sheet of cardstock on top.

3. Trace the image using the black glue.

4. Allow it to dry completely.

5. Start painting!

You can do all sorts of watercolor exercises with this. I played with blending similar colors within each shape. I did a thinner wash for the background. With the younger kids, I didn’t give any instruction – I just taught them how to activate the paint and use it.

Download the free Hanukkah art activity templates

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I hope you enjoyed this Hanukkah watercolor art project! Want more black glue templates? Comment below with any questions or ideas!