Design T-Shirts with the Kids

It was day 10,001 of being at home.  Actually it was Earth Day which was at the end of April so I guess I’m slightly exaggerating.  Typically the kids talk about the importance of Earth Day at school and participate in activities and make crafts related to caring for the environment. 

Since they would be missing this, I thought we should do something ourselves at home. So I let them design t-shirts of their own. I mean what kid doesn’t want to save the world while wearing a custom designed, breathable cotton, figure flattering t-shirt?

Customizing a shirt is a fun and creative activity your kids will definitely enjoy doing.  They will love being involved in every step of the process.  First start with brainstorming ideas of what picture or design they would like on their shirt.

How to Design T-shirts:

Any light colored t-shirt will do.  If you don’t have one at home, low cost t-shirts can also be found at dollar stores.  Just ask the Grandparents which aisle they are in.  They probably have it memorized since they are there regularly with your kids buying annoying tiny plastic toys that you end up stepping on.

Once you have decided on the design, its time to look online for inspiration.   I basically searched for images and enlarged the ones the kids decided to use.  You can print the pictures so that they can be used as stencils for tracing.  We thought it would be a good idea to practice our designs on a piece of paper before going straight to the t-shirt.

If you are using the print-out as a stencil, place the stencil inside the shirt and trace out the design with a pencil first. If its too difficult to see through the shirt, a simple trick is to tape the shirt to a window and trace out the design.  You can also tape the stencil inside the shirt so it doesn’t move around.

Once you have traced the design out with your pencil you can go ahead and color in with the fabric markers. Fabric markers can be purchased at your local craft stores.

If your shirts need a wash you can throw them in with your regular laundry. The fabric markers are permanent so the colors will not bleed.

Enjoy wearing your own personalized t-shirts!

Looking for other activities to do out home? Check out our free recipe themed activity sheets and coloring pages.