Autism Awareness: Sponge Painting Tutorial

This entry is part of Autism Awareness Month. Autism is a developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact with other people. Autism Awareness Month is a nationwide effort that helps promote autism awareness.

We decided to paint my brother’s old bedroom in our house. My brother, Teddy, has autism. Since it is Autism Awareness Month, I thought I would post a tutorial on sponge painting a bedroom wall since that is the technique we used on his bedroom. Sponge painting is easy to do and if you are painting with someone with autism, they can help out.

Supplies: 

• Latex Wall Paint: Get at least two shades of wall paint. You can do three or even four of five shades of you wish. I think having the same color in different shades works well. We used blue paint for my brother’s room. Blue is also one of the official autism awareness colors. You may want to try out paint chips before buying paint.
• Latex Glaze: Get latex glaze, not oil based glaze, which will thin latex paint. It also gives it a translucent look.
• Paint Tray: Use a paint tray to hold your paint.
• Sponge: Use a natural sea sponge which will give you a textured pattern. You may also get a smaller sponge or different size sponges if you are using a lot of shades of paint.
• Paint Roller: Use a paint roller or paintbrush if you need to paint a base color.
• Scouring Pads (optional): This is optional, but you may wish to get a synthetic scouring pad.
• Other Items: You may need other items as needed such as masking tape and measuring cups.

Instructions:

1. Let’s get started. Start by painting the base coat on the wall.

2. Mix the next layer of paint you want to use with the latex glaze.

3. Dip a large sponge in the paint and glaze mixture. Blot off most of the paint in the paint tray so it doesn’t drip. Start testing the sponge paint in a small area. See how the color looks. If you like the look, keep sponge painting with this technique on the rest of the wall.

4. Repeat this step with the next color. Use a smaller sponge for additional layers. Keep going until you get all the colors you want.

5. When paint is just dry to the touch, you may use a scouring pad to scour areas. This will get rid of any drips or blotches you don’t want.

We also wanted to go with a storybook theme for the room so we added storybook related items such as stuffed animal characters (like the Cat in the Hat stuffed animal pictured in the first photo). I like the way the bedroom turned out overall. The blue colors reminds me of the ocean and I think it really brightened up the room.

Have you ever used the sponge painting technique? Let me know in the comments if you try out this tutorial.