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Watch your child's (or student's) face light up when you remove that first rubber band from your tie dyed t-shirt. It is truly amazing the designs that one can create with so few tools. Try these super easy tie dyes for kids and see what ours were raving about! For the purposes of simplicity, we chose to use one color per garment, rather than multiple colors that are so often seen. You can also use colored garments and use a contrasting dye color to achieve the same results.

What You Need:

• various colors of fabric dye (available in the housewares department)
• rubber bands
• rubber gloves
• marbles
• tap water
• garments such as t-shirts, cotton shorts, old jeans, etc.

What You Do:

Begin by rubberbanding your garment according to the design you wish to achieve. See the pictures below followed by the method in which to reach that result.

Prepare dye according to package directions. Be sure to wear rubber gloves to protect your hands! Dye can be just as damaging as bleach to your unprotected skin. Please take the proper safety precautions recommended.

Once your garment is ready, place in the dye for at least 15-20 minutes. The longer the garment remains in the dye, the darker and deeper the color will become. Remove from the dye and rinse according to package directions, usually in cold running water. Ring out garment until water runs clear.

Carefully remove rubber bands and marbles to reveal your new design! No design will be the same as another and different effects can be reached by combining the different methods mentioned above. See below for our results and be sure to have a good time!

I used Rit dye, but I used the powdered kind. You mix the powder with cold tap water. The shirts only stayed in for 15 minutes at the longest. The pictures were taken when the shirts were still wet, so that may show them a bit richer in color. But they still came out nice, even after drying in the clothes dryer.

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Recommended Books:

Tie Dye! The How-To Book
by: Virginia Gleser
Learn the secrets of tie dying and create your own beautiful fabrics. Tie dying is an ancient art form developed in the Far East over a thousand years ago. This user-friendly book will show you how to create seven unique and beautiful designs