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Dad Field Manual · Field card 153 · Indoor & Rainy Day

Tie-dye day: a shirt of many colors

A coffee filter, a marker and a spray bottle show how colors run. Then fold, band and dye a shirt, and rinse to see what you made.

Time
1 hr, plus the kit's wait
Cost
About $15
Ages
5 to 12
Where
Outside, or over a tub

What you need

  • A tie-dye kit with squeeze bottles and gloves, marked "Conforms to ASTM D-4236"
  • A white cotton T-shirt per person, washed
  • Rubber bands (most kits include them)
  • White coffee filters, washable markers and a spray bottle of water
  • Trash bags or plastic to cover the table, and old clothes
  • Zip-top bags or plastic wrap for the wait

Dye safety: read this first

  • Follow the kit's label, every line. A grown-up mixes the dye. Gloves on everyone, including any mask or open-window advice on the box.
  • Store it like a cleaner. Dye stays in its original bottles, out of sight and reach of kids, locked up if you can. Mix it in the kit's bottles, never in a cup.
  • If someone swallows dye, call Poison Help, 1-800-222-1222. Call 911 if they're not breathing, unconscious or having a seizure.
  • Check for the marking. CPSC says to use only art supplies marked "Conforms to ASTM D-4236."

Steps

  1. Set up the dye station. Cover the table, wear old clothes, read the kit's label out loud and put gloves on.
  2. Warm up with a coffee filter. Draw on a coffee filter with washable markers, spray it with water and watch the colors run.
  3. Fold and band the shirt. Pinch the center and twist into a flat spiral, then band it into wedges. Or scrunch and band it.
  4. Mix the dye. A grown-up fills the kit bottles with water as the label says, caps and shakes them.
  5. Pick a color for each person. Pick a color for each family member and squeeze each into its own wedge, front and back.
  6. Wrap, wait and reveal. Bag the shirt, wait as long as the kit says, rinse until clear, cut the bands and open it.

If it stalls

  • If they want every color everywhere, let them do it on a coffee filter first and see it turn brown. Then they'll choose.
  • If a little one loses interest at the shirt, the coffee filter is a finished project. Hang it in a window.
Colors used · favorite fold
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date