Nerf Battle Paint Splatter T-shirts -

When Aleisha and I discussed coming up with a fun summertime activity for the Summer Family Fun Blog Hop, we wanted to keep our two boys in mind. They both love to help us craft from time to time and they definitely love having Nerf dart battles, so we decided to combine the two for our Nerf Battle Paint Splatter T-shirts activity. A little pain makes the art better, right? The boys seemed to think so, lol. They were all in the second we proposed the idea to them and even had several suggestions. For the most part, the artsy game turned out the way we expected it to, but we definitely still had some fails and hiccups we’ll share with you below. But before we get to the fun part below, we want you to meet all of the hosts:

Shirley Intelligent Domestications • Erlene My Pinterventures
Jenny Cookies, Coffee And Crafts• Donna Two Chicks And A Mom
Marie DIY Adulation • Sam Raggedy Bits • Emily Hunny I’m Home DIY
Rebecca The Moments At Home • Victoria Dazzle While Frazzled
Aleisha & Marie The Inspiration Vault •Michelle Our Crafty Mom
Heather Glitter On A Dime • Emily Domestic Deadline Habiba @Craftify My Love

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Nerf Battle Paint Splatter T-shirts

Materials Needed

Single Shot Nerf Blaster
Extra Nerf Darts
Plain T-shirts
Shorts that Can Get Paint on Them
Fabric Paint
Paper Plates
Sunglasses or Safety Glasses
(Optional) Washi or Masking Tape

Nerf Battle Paint Splatter T-shirts Steps

1: If you want to mask off a design with washi or masking tape, do that part first before you start the battle.

2: Set up your paints, blasters, and extra darts on a table or some chairs you don’t mind getting stained. You can also just sit the paint plates on the ground and give them some extra exercise. If you know your battle artist won’t want their paints to run together, you may want a different paper plate or bowl for each color. I understand OCD color stuff, I’m the same way. Make sure they wear safety glasses or sunglasses to protect their eyes!

3: Let the battle begin! I have to admit, it was hilarious at the beginning because their first instinct was to duck and cover from getting tagged with the jumbo Nerf darts. We kept having to stop and wipe paint off of my house and my porch before it stained. We must have repositioned them and that table three or four times. On that note, we both highly recommend doing this art battle in a larger open area so you don’t have to worry about a polka dot house.

4: They were finally able to land some shots on the actual t-shirts and once they realized it didn’t really hurt that much, they got faster and faster at reloading. The technique they found worked best was to load the dart in the blaster and then dip the tip of the dart in the paint, then shoot. Note that the paint will soak through and get on their skin, so post battle showers or baths are a must.

5: Unfortunately, the Nerf blasters got too gunked up with paint and stopped shooting far and hard enough to hit the shirts, so we had to come up with a plan B. They simply finished off the shirts by dipping a dart tip in the paint and throwing it at the other shirt or tagging it in random places. Now if you’re thinking, “well I don’t want to ruin my Nerf blaster!” you can rest assured the paint washed off both those and the darts with some warm water and Dawn dish soap. I tested out both guns once they dried out and they worked just fine.

6: Once they’re done creating their masterpieces, carefully remove their shirts and hang to dry. Once they’re dry, you can peel off the washi tape to reveal their design. Since this is fabric paint, you’ll be able to wash these shirts and keep their artsy Nerfy goodness intact. Now send those spotted kiddos off to the shower!

Mom Pro Tip: Get those shorts, too, in case they still have wet fabric paint on them and your darling artist permanently recolors your bathroom rug or anything else on the way to the bathroom.

So what do you think!? Yes, yes, we know this Nerf Battle Paint Splatter T-shirts Summer activity is super messy, but sometimes you gotta cut loose and let kids have fun getting ~~dirt~~ paint under their fingernails. Both boys were thrilled with how their shirts turned out. Even though some of the colors ran together a bit, some of the dots or marks had a really cool marbled look. I personally love happy accidents like that. Would we try this again? We say yes, we’d just use a bigger open space and maybe have a rinse bucket for the darts. We also think this would be a fun activity to do with pillow cases or art canvases.

Now be sure to visit my blogging friends below for more summer family fun ideas!

Grandma Camp @Intelligent Domestications

Thursday

Easy Kids Obstacle Course Ideas @Cookies, Coffee And Crafts

How to Make a Fun Kids Swim Towel @Dazzle While Frazzled

Polymer Clay Charms @Domestic Deadline

Friday

Nerf Battle Paint Splatter T-Shirts @The Inspiration Vault

How to Make Easy Farmhouse Planter Herb Markers @Raggedy Bits

DIY Creative Summer Journal @My Pinterventures

4 thoughts on “Nerf Battle Paint Splatter T-shirts”

Erlene
11 June 2018 at 1:44 AM

Ok, this is seriously one of the most creative and fun ideas to keep the kids busy, especially for boys. My kids would have been all over this, including all the neighborhood kids too.
Heather
8 June 2018 at 2:12 PM

What an awesome idea! My son will be all about this. He and his friends are constantly having nerf battles. I am definitely pinning for a summer project for him!
Shirley Wood
8 June 2018 at 7:17 AM

Our boys would be all over this, no pun intended. What a fun idea for outdoor summer play!
Jenny
8 June 2018 at 7:09 AM

Super fun idea. It looks like the boys had a blast. I love this idea because you don’t see to many craft ideas geared towards boys. They have a great story to tell when they wear the shirt. My son is just getting into Nerf guns. Pinning!