Ultimate Salad Spinner Spin Art Guide

Table of Contents:

How do you get started with salad spinner spin art? It's so easy! I'm going to tell you all about it inside this post.
What are some salad spinner art projects to try? Here are 25+ Awesome Spin Art Activities that we love!

How do you get started with salad spinner spin art? It's so easy! I'm going to tell you all about it inside this post.

Salad spinner art is my favorite way to paint for two reasons.

It's almost completely mess-free.
Even the busiest kids love it because it is action art!

Who doesn't love a semi mess-free art activity that gets little bodies moving too?

Spin art is also super colorful and it's different every time you do it. My kids love to do this one on repeat.

Not only is spin art easy to set up, but it's fun for kids of all ages.

RELATED: Need more art ideas for kids? You can see some of our favorite ways to create here.

Spin art is so simple- here are the details:

Toddler Approved is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about these links in my Disclosure Policy.

Materials You Need for Spin Art

Salad spinner (or this IKEA one)
Liquid watercolors or Washable paint (I like to have both!)
Coffee filters
Cardstock paper
Optional: Any other items you want to use! (rocks, leaves, etc.)
Optional: Droppers (we use these to squeeze paint into the salad spinner sometimes)
Optional: Paint cups (we use these for the paint sometimes)

What kind of paint do you use for spin art?

You can use a variety of paint for spin art.

My favorite paints to use are liquid watercolors.

We also use washable tempera paint. The paint moves best if it is watered down, so if you use washable paint, you'll want to add a little water to it first.

What is your favorite salad spinner for spin art?

There are so many opinions on salad spinners. The majority of people love IKEA salad spinners because they are CHEAP and easily replaceable. I've been using salad spinners with toddler groups for years, and my OXO salad spinner is the winner every time (versus other brands, including the IKEA one).

Why is it the winner?

Because kids press it up and down with two hands and can get their whole bodies into it versus having to turn a knob in circles.

It's just plain easier.

Both work, but I've had my Oxo for almost 10 years and hundreds of spin art sessions, and it's still going strong.

Do I need a separate salad spinner for art?

Yes. You could wash it and use it for salad, but I wouldn't recommend it.

But I've also never actually used a salad spinner for salad... so I might not be the best person to ask.

How do you introduce spin art to kids?

When you get started with spin art, kids are usually curious about the salad spinner or afraid of it.

First, I kick off any spin art lesson with a demonstration of how it works and how to squirt the paint inside. After watching me do it, kids are usually chomping at the bit to have a turn.

Here are my simple Salad Spinner Spin Art instructions:

Open the salad spinner.
Put the cut paper or coffee filter inside the salad spinner.
Squirt paint onto the coffee filter/paper (It works best if you squirt it in several spots inside of the coffee filter instead of just in the center).
Close the lid.
Spin for a few minutes.
Open it and see how it looks. If it needs more colors, squeeze more paint, put the lid on and spin some more.
Remove it from the salad spinner and lay it out to dry.
Repeat!

What are some salad spinner art projects to try? Here are 25+ Awesome Spin Art Activities that we love!

We've broken these salad spinner art ideas down into two categories.

Holiday/season spin art ideas- these go along with different themes like Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, or other ones like fall or winter.
Unique spin art ideas- these ideas use materials besides coffee filters and paper and often help kids create a more unique spin art project.