This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Michaels and Goblies as part of the Michaels Makers team.
We just tried the funnest new thing – throwable paintballs! We’ve tried lots of fun outdoor color games, and this is our favorite – they were super fun and easy to use and clean up was surprising easy! You can find Goblies at Michael’s (in my store there’s a big display up front), so go grab a bunch and get ready for some fun! Goblies are throwable washable paintballs your kids will love available ONLY at Michaels!
We used Goblies to make a fun wall art canvas for our game room. It of course turned into a fun paintball and paint squirt-gun war!
Throwable Paintball Fun Video:
What Are Goblies Throwable Paintballs?
Goblies are paintballs that you throw. They are washable. They are biodegradable (so much better than having to pick up pieces from water balloons!). The casing is plant based, made from seaweed. They are filled with non-toxic goo.
Do Goblies Hurt when thrown?
Nope! They’re really soft and squishy and don’t hurt like regular paintballs.
Paintball Canvas Craft Project
You’ll need: (I found everything at Michael’s)
Goblies
Large Canvas of desired size
White Tees
It worked best to set up the canvas, that way when the paintballs break the paint will run down the canvas and create art. My kiddos LOVED the paintballs – they were soft, easy to throw, and burst easily onto their targets.
They are stored in liquid in the bag to protect them from bursting too early:
Ready Aim Fire! Throw them every which way at the canvas and have fun with it.
Some of the paintball casings will be left on the canvas (as shown below) – you’ll just want to pull those off while the paint is still wet so they don’t stick.
UPDATE: I posted all about this right after our project. I thought it would take a day or two for the canvas to dry, but the formula for it to be washable also makes it so it doesn’t dry on the canvas, just a heads up! I was hoping to try to spray it with clear sealer to see if it would seal it in and dry the paint, but haven’t tried that yet.
Paint Gun Spray
There are also fun squirt guns that can be filled with Goblies Paint – easy enough to fill that my kids could fill their own, love that!
They had a blast battling one another!
Paintball Clean Up
I was pleasantly surprised with how easily everything cleaned up! The squirt guns rinsed off easily. The colors almost all came out of the white tees. Everything was washable! Go grab yourself some Goblies and have some fun!
I’m doing a Splatoon themed birthday party for my 7 yr old next weekend and am so excited to see this product! I just have a few questions Based on your pictures:
Were the squirt guns you used a special kind or brand, or can you use any tank-style water gun?
Is the paint the kids filled the tanks with a separate item from the paint balls? Or is it just the paint ball liquid? (Can’t tell from the pix)
Did the clothes wash out well or was there some color leftover on them after washing?
Great questions!!
–I got the squirt guns at Michaels but any squirt gun would work
–yes, the paint in the squirt guns is different than what came with the paint balls – there are two products, the paint balls and then the squirtable paint, they both were located on the same display
–they mostly washed out – they were wearing pure white tees, and there was a hint of blue after one wash. And that faded with another washing. It came completely out of their shorts.
Just tried this after seeing your posting. We’re incredibly disappointed about wasting a big canvas on this product. The paint dries sticky on the canvas and attracts bugs. I don’t recommend planning to keep the art. Just use them for play.
Thanks Katie! I too didn’t realize it would be sticky – I wrote up the post when I was still waiting for it to dry. Thanks for the reminder, I added that info in to the post. I wanted to try spraying it with a clear sealer to see if it would help it dry, but then we went out of town so I never got to try that to see if would help. Agreed, they were way fun for play!
Did you go back and successfully “preserve”? Bummed what we created can’t be saved in some way.
my husband was being helpful “cleaning up” and didn’t save the canvas, so I didn’t get a chance to try it – I might need to have the kids make another just to test it
Hi Mandy,
I tried it too, but it won’t dry. It’s sticky and attracts dust. It’s been a week.
Did your’s dry? Would it ever dry? Or will just have to throw the canvas?
Thanks
We did our goblies project 3 days ago and they are still not dry. Do they ever dry completely?
I found that as well – I wanted to try spraying them with a clear spraypaint but haven’t tried that yet
They aren’t only at Michaels. I found the entire Goblies collection at Wal-mart, and I’ve seen just the throwable balls at Target too. Thanks for the tips! I’m excited to try them out with my brothers. Big sister with throwable paintballs…muahaha
I wish I saw this a few weeks ago- we just did a birthday canvas for my daughter and it won’t dry. This makes me so sad, I was really hoping it would work.
have you tried spraying it with a clear spraypaint?? I was wanting to try that to see if it would seal everything in
We sprayed the finished product with clear glossy spray paint and it appears to work! 😉
This was so much fun!
We did attempt to “goo” on canvas. I sprayed the finished product with a clear glossy sealer. It seems to have worked (it took a while to dry).
We sprayed the finished product with clear glossy spray paint and it appears to work! 😉