Sponge Painting with a Twist

Wow. I have been away from my blog for over a month now. Between a very long vacation and the start of school something had to give! But we are now getting into the swing of things and I am back! This very rainy day is also helping to keep me inside. The days have been so lovely that working in front of the computer is nearly impossible. I just hope there is someone out there still interested in what I have to share.
In most instances I would say that sponge painting does not excite me very much. It gets on fingers and the spongy prints make me think of a home decorating attempt gone bad. But I discovered that a sponge as a vehicle for printing can be a pretty cool thing. We used ours as gift wrap.
You need paper, a sponge cut into the shape you want to use, tempera paint, squeeze bottles with a small opening, a printing plate (I used a plastic yogurt lid).

Squirt the paint on the printing plate. Press sponge onto paint. Print. Repeat.

I wish I had taken a picture of the wrapped present--it was so very pretty! I think this would be great to do with older kids as well--they could make more detailed squirts to print.