Do your kids love to paint? If your kids are like mine, you have probably never heard, “No, I don’t want to paint” from them. Or maybe your children used to love to paint, but have lost interest. Children are naturally creative and studies show that doing art is an important part of child development. So how do you keep it fun and entertaining with just some paint, paintbrushes, and some paper?
Here are a few ideas that can jazz up your child’s painting experience to make it more engaging and fun:
Ditch the brush
Have you run out of paint brushes or just want to have your painting have a different look? Try using different tools. Here are a few ideas of items that you can use:
Forks: Use a plastic fork and make unique art like flowers, fireworks, a lion’s mane, and many other animals.
Q-tips or cotton balls: Use several bunched up q-tips secured with a rubber band or just individually. These are great for making trees or any other type of dot art. Get creative!
Marbles and magnets: Take a small box and place your blank paper at the bottom. Add different color paints and drop them all over the paper. Put the marble in the box and roll it around the paint and watch the marble roll the paint all over the picture. Try the same method with magnets by putting the magnet in the box and using the magnetic wand at the bottom of the box to drag it through the paint.
Ziplock bag: Even babies can get in on the action! Place a piece of paper or canvas in a large Ziplock bag. If you want to make this a piece of art you can save, try spelling out your child’s name or just a letter with tape first on the canvas. Add different color blobs of paint to the canvas and make sure to seal the bag tightly (extra seal with some duct tape) and let your baby smear the paint all over while inside the bag. When you take it out and it’s dry, you can peel off your tape and you will have a little baby masterpiece. Click here for an example.
Balloons: Have you ever seen or tried paint pouring? Use the same method but try blowing up a balloon and using it to spread your paint colors around on a canvas for some unique abstract art!
Pendulum painting: This is great for older kids because it doubles as a STEM project and they can construct their own pendulum before they start their art. See how it works here. You can also try using spray bottles, water guns, straws (blow painting), and bubble wrap — the options really are endless!
Ditch the paper:
You can also use other items besides paper or a canvas to create your unique art masterpiece. Here are some of my favorites:
- Shower curtain painting: I love this one because it’s outside and you just take the hose and spray it off when you’re done!
- Foil painting
Rock painting (using chalk paint markers)
There are so many different ways to paint. You can use just about anything laying around the house or in nature to create different paint looks of unique abstract art. I hope these ideas inspire you to think outside of the box the next time you decide to paint so that it’s more engaging and fun!
