Tips for Painting with Kids

Painting is a fun and easy indoor activity for kids. Use these tips for painting with kids at home to take art time from stressful mess to playful expression!

Tips for Painting with Kids

Have you seen those $1 painting kits at Target? My son has… every single time we go there!

They are small, thin wood cuts with a printed image on the front. Super cute and an easy 15 minute craft activity that he’s excited about! Totally worth a buck!

What’s great about this particular easy painting idea for kids is that it is big fun for kids to paint on something that feels more like “real” art than a piece of scrap paper! They can glob the paint on thick because it’s a wood cut- no paper to tear or pill up from excessive moisture.

Though we also love painting pumpkins instead of carving them for a quick, fun activity!

1. COVER EVERYTHING

Since kids aren’t known for their ability to keep paint on the object they are painting, you’re going to want to lay down a thick cover of paper or something. This doesn’t have to be a painters tarp covering every surface- a layer or newspaper or even a piece of printer paper will do!

2. COVER EVERYTHING – INCLUDING YOUR CHILD!

Again, paint is going to get everywhere. So, make sure your child is wearing a designated paint shirt or even an old oversized grownup shirt. If you have a paint smock, that also works!

3. USE TEMPERA PAINT

Don’t use oil based paint, use tempera paint. It coats well and is washable off of most things!

If your project comes with paint (like ours did) you might check to see what type of paint it is. In all likelihood if it is a kit for kids, it’s going to be washable or tempera !

For our wooden robot, we could have ditched the packaged paints and used our tempera instead, but James was super excited about using the little pots of paint, so we went with it!

4. TOSS OUT YOUR EXPECTATIONS

Let your child do whatever ideas they have for their project. If they want to paint the whole thing one color, let them! If they want to mix all the colors together until the paint is brown, let them!

Painting with young kids is about having fun! Marvel at their creativity instead of trying to force them to “get it right!” Relax. Don’t stress over the finished results and instead enjoy the time together!

Tell them how proud of them you are and admire their work when it’s all done!

You might also like one of these:

• 3 Easy Homemade Paint Recipes
• Best Tips for Teaching Scissor Skills
• Easy Painted Pumpkin Ideas for Kids

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