How to Make Homemade Liquid Watercolor Paint

I’ve been on a big decluttering spree lately, and this week my attention turned towards our craft supplies.  I reorganized all the paper, made sure the pipe cleaners, beads, etc. were all in the right containers, and then I had the kids try out all the markers in our marker box.   Those that were drying out didn’t get put back in the box. Instead the old markers got turned into some beautiful homemade liquid watercolor paints.

Want to make your own liquid water colors from markers?

It’s super simple!

First, organize the markers by color. This is a great activity for young children to work on sorting skills.

Once the markers are separated into groups, put them upside down into jars.  (I used baby food jars.  You could also use small mason jars.)

Next, add water and let them sit like that for 24 hours. Keep in mind, more water will create lighter paint colors.

After 24 hours or so, remove the markers.

I have heard of some people taking apart the markers and then squeezing the inner tube into the paint.  I decided not to do that step.  Even with skipping this last step, our watercolors turned out brilliant!

My daughter couldn’t wait to try out our new homemade paint!

To lessen the chance for a big spill, I used a spoon to put a small amount of each color into the bottom portion of an egg carton.  One tablespoon of each color went a really, really long way!

Once you’ve made your own homemade water color paints, use them for this fun salt painting craft or to do some crayon-resist painting!