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!!
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!
See details: Recycled Spray painting By Hello Wonderful
3. Cotton balls:
Yes, they can be used for other purposes than wiping makeup ladies!!!
See details: Cotton ball painting By Teach Preschool
5. Cotton buds:
Great for little hands. Can be used Individually, or you can tie a bundle of cotton buds and use them together.
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.
See details: Sponge Painting By No time for flash cards
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.
8. Card
Scraping paint with a card is, I must say highly unusual, but extremely satisfactory!! Take out those old cards and start scraping!!
See details: Credit card Painting By Happy Hooligans
9. Old markers:
Another Recycling project???!
I am all IN!!
Give your old markers a New life and Paint paint Paint…
See details: Kids marker Paints By Picklebums
10. Rolling pin:
Turns out, you can use Rolling pins for more than just making those breads, pastries and cookies!
See details: Rolling pin painting By Paging Fun Mums
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!
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.
See details: Marbled Paper with Shaving cream By Crafty Morning
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!!
14. Bottle caps:
Another Recycling project for you my friends!!
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”.
See details: Sparkle paint By Paging Fun Mums
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.
See details: Tooth brush Painting By Disney Family
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.
See details: Finger Painting By How we Learn
20. Leaf stamp:
Bring a little bit of nature indoors and use leaves to stencil, stamp and create great artwork.
See details: Leaf Painting By Best 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.
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.
See details: Bubble wrap painting By Learning 4 Kids
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!
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!!
25. Sugar:
I loved this idea, because when you paint, the paint spreads out like magic.
See details: Sugar water painting By Knocked Up Abroad
26. Feather:
Soft and bushy?? Lets paint with it then!!
See details: Painting with feathers By Mess for Less
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!
See details: Painting with Bubbles By Typically Simple
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!!
See details: Watch full Youtube Tutorial for making String Art
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!!).
See details: Water pistol painting By Messy Little Monsters
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??!!
I hope you found some inspirations from these creative painting techniques. Do let me know which one you liked best!!
Good activity for kids ?
Great ideas! My daughter would love these ideas! So much fun to paint with something other than a brush.
Thats wonderful 😀 Really glad you enjoyed it!
Cool ideas! I definitely want to try some of these!
Thankyou 🙂
Afcourse the canvas one . I loved them all.. 😍👍