30 creative painting crafts for kids

30+ Creative Painting Ideas for Kids

Creative Painting ideas for Kids

This post is called “Painting ideas for kids”, but beware, cause you will love it even more than the little ones!

Painting is a messy, yet an extremely fun activity for children of all ages (even adults find it highly enjoyable and therapeutic. Example: Me, of course). I love to paint. And I love to think out of the box. Like why only paint with a paint brush? 

Our world is full of different textures to explore, so why limit yourself?

This is the reason that I have come up with the idea of exploring more than 30 creative extras that you can use while painting with kids. This will let your little ones imagine, explore and create something truly amazing. 

So, grab some paints, put on your old t-shirt, and paint to your hearts content…..

30+ Painting Ideas for Kids

(and shhh... for you too):

Some of these creative painting ideas for kids have been taken from the internet (I have mentioned the source for each one of those) and some ideas are my own.  

I decided to take some of the pictures during a play date with one of my friend’s son. He is, however, one and a half year old and for some reason decided to paint himself rather than the paper! A huge mess and a lot of apologies later, I managed to take a few blurry pictures with my cell phone. Though I don’t think my friend is going to be inviting me over any time soon!!

Hence, the warning: 

NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 2 YEARS!!
OR 3, IF THEY ARE BOYS!!

1. Stones:

You may have heard about Painting stones, but have you ever tried painting with them?? Rocks and stones have a great texture and when you dip them in paint and use as stamps on paper, they give your painting a whole different feel to it.

Not to mention, it is a great Sensory Activity!!

creative painting ideas for kids

2. Spray bottle:

I am a great Big fan of Recycling. Like there is fan, then there is a great fan, and then there is a great big fan. Yup, that’s ME!! So use any spray bottles around the house, even squirt bottles and have fun with your kids. Just be careful if you use bottles from cleaning sprays, as they may contain harsh chemicals!

painting ideas for kids spray paint

3. Cotton balls:

Yes, they can be used for other purposes than wiping makeup ladies!!!

painting ideas for kids cotton

4. Ice:

Two words:

“Welcome Summer!!!”

painting ideas for kids ice

5. Cotton buds:

Great for little hands. Can be used Individually, or you can tie a bundle of cotton buds and use them together.

creative painting ideas for kids

6. Sponges:

Forget about doing the dishes with Kitchen sponges, paint away!!!

I especially love how this painting idea for kids has been used to teach different shapes.

painting ideas for kids kitchen sponges

7. Paper towel:

Paper towels are usually textured and printed, so when you dip and paint with them, they provide a great texture on the canvas/ paper.

painting ideas for kids paper towel

8. Card

Scraping paint with a card is, I must say highly unusual, but extremely satisfactory!! Take out those old cards and start scraping!!

painting ideas for kids credit card

9. Old markers:

Another Recycling project???!

I am all IN!!

Give your old markers a New life and Paint paint Paint…

10. Rolling pin:

Turns out, you can use Rolling pins for more than just  making those breads, pastries and cookies!

painting ideas for kids rolling pin

11. Stickers:

Have you ever tried stenciling? Or using painter’s tape to create artwork? 
In these techniques, you basically create artwork by leaving some areas unpainted.
Try this painting idea with your kids. Let them randomly place a few stickers and paint over them. Pull out the stickers once the painting is dry to create beautiful patterns!

painting ideas for kids stickers

12. Shaving cream:

Let the kids have fun with this Shaving cream marbling technique, and you can use these beautiful marbled papers later on to gift wrap or make simple yet creative cards for friends and family.

marbling with shaving cream

13. Comb:

My daughter was born with little to no hair on her head, so I found this brand new comb in her starter kit and ofcourse I thought of painting!

I mean who wouldn’t?? 😉

P.S: Thank God she has really beautiful hair now!!

painting ideas for kids comb

14. Bottle caps:

Another Recycling project for you my friends!!

painting ideas for kids bottle caps

15. Glitter:

All that glitters in definitely not Gold.
This one is paint my friends. And yes it glitters.
Just like that smile on your kiddos face when they will paint with this “Sparkle paint”.

sparkle paint

16. Balloons:

What kid doesn’t love balloons? 
Kids really and truly love balloons. I mean until one explodes right on their face and then they start crying. But yeah, before that happens, they love love loveee balloons! So dip them in paint, and create some really wonderful artwork!

17. Plastic knife:

If all those great artists can use a palette knife to paint, why cant your little artist paint with a plastic knife??

And the textured effect is AWESOME!!

18. Tooth brush:

If you are confident that your little one won’t suddenly feel the urge to brush his teeth (with paint), then this one here is a great medium to paint with. You can even spray paint with a toothbrush by sliding your finger over the bristles.

paint with toothbrush

19. Finger painting:

If you don’t mind a little mess, try out these finger painting ideas for kids. Your kids are surely going to love them.

20. Leaf stamp:

Bring a little bit of nature indoors and use leaves to stencil, stamp and create great artwork.

creative painting ideas for kids

21. Bottle Brush:

Well, Don’t blame me! This plant is called Bottle BRUSH! Like it screams to be used with paint.

We find hundreds of bottle brushes lying around here during the spring and summers. If you don’t have these where you live, you can probably try dandelions or even some textured flowers.

painting ideas for kids bottle brush

22. Bubble wrap:

Kids and bubble wraps go a long way back. I remember how as kids, we used to pop every single one of these bubbles before throwing them away. 

But ofcourse, they are a great medium to paint with as well.

bubble wrap painting

23. Empty paper towel tubes:

This technique is somewhat similar to the rolling pin one, except that you get to use recycled paper towel tubes for this. Add different mediums like bubble wraps or foam shapes to your tubes to make it even more interesting!

painting ideas for kids paper towel roll painting

24. Ice cream sticks:

I have seen a lot of crafts involving paddle pop sticks. They are used in lots of color matching and sorting activities, but you can use them to spread, mix and scrape paints too!!

painting ideas for kids popsicle sticks

25. Sugar:

I loved this idea, because when you paint, the paint spreads out like magic.

sugar water painting

26. Feather:

Soft and bushy?? Lets paint with it then!!

feather painting

27. LEGO (because, why not??):

You may be thinking something along the lines of: “Does she have to use LEGO with everything now??

Yes, I used LEGO to:

1. Teach alphabets
2. Make puzzles
3. Molds for kinetic sand

But truth be told, this is the one that my friend’s one and a half year old loved best!! He actually wasn’t interested in painting with anything else after I had introduced Lego for painting!!

28. Bubbles:

Bubbles and painting. One of the best combinations in the whole wide world!

29. Yarn:

Our paintings didn’t turn out as amazing as the one shown in the Youtube tutorial below, but still, it was a great activity.

But really MESSY, mind you!!

30. Cling wrap:

This one is dedicated to all the No-mess moms out there. This is a fun way to introduce painting to toddlers without having to clean up a huge mess. Just put some blobs of different colored paints directly onto the canvas or even a table (if you are working on a table), or even an old tray and cling wrap it tightly. The little ones can use their hand to press the paint, which will spread out and mix as they keep exploring!

But God help you if you don’t wrap the cling properly!!

Don’t be scared. BUT DO WRAP PROPERLY!

 

31. Water gun:

This is huge fun! 

But it does have the potential to turn into a game of paint ball. So go prepared (NO New white shirts please!!).

32. Pouring using disposable cups:

The idea is to pour some paints in glasses. And without stirring or mixing, simply pour the paints onto the canvas. 

Once you have poured the paint in the middle, stand the canvas upright and let the paint free fall. Change sides until all sides of the canvas are fully covered.

Pour more paint to areas that are not covered

This is how the painting turned out!!
Pretty Awesome??!!

creative painting techniques

I hope you found some inspirations from these creative painting techniques. Do let me know which one you liked best!!

creative painting ideas for kids 1

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