We spent most of Spring Break tie-dying as a family

We recently had March Break for elementary school kids here in Ontario. This year the weather was not really conducive to playing outside much (especially when one kid is a toddler who is barely walking); at the start of the week it was warm and everything became wet and muddy, and then later in the week temperatures plunged and it was cold and icy. So I endeavored to entertain my girls indoors with trips to local children’s hot spots. Most places had extra events and staff for the Break.

But you can’t run your kids’ little legs off all day, so we also broke out some new crafts. The favourite of the week was tie-dying.

I haven’t tie-dyed since I was a little kid, and it’s about as difficult as I remember, i.e. not very. We bought most of our supplies from the local big box store: a Tulip One-Step Large Tie Dye Kit in the “Bright” colourway with lime, pink, and turquoise dyes; a three-pack of white T-shirts; and two pairs of white leggings. The onesie was scrounged from the toddler’s existing wardrobe.

I was fairly satisfied with the Tulip kit; the instructions were clear and it was easy to use. My only sticking point is the “Dyes up to eight projects!” claim on the front of the package. Technically it is correct, since that “up to” covers a lot of ground. But we only managed six pieces, with five of them sized for a four-year-old and another for a 14-month-old. It’s also pretty obvious we were running out of dye by the end. So yeah, take that “up to” with a grain of salt.

So was it fun? I thought so, and my four-year-old agrees. She was so proud to wear the shirt that she dyed “all by herself” to school today. And of course we had to dye something for the 14-month-old so she wouldn’t feel left out. (As if she’d even notice at this age, but she was insistent, and I thought it was nice of her.)

Would I do it again? Definitely, especially once the kiddos grow out of (or wear out) the clothes we just dyed. I think my youngest will enjoy it as well once she’s old enough to be trusted to follow instructions under close supervision. Maybe next time we’ll try it in combination with wax-resist dyeing — that could be a lot of fun!