Painting Ideas for a Child
Painting with children can be so much more than just sitting them down with water colors and a piece of paper. All it takes is a little creative thinking and you can ensure that your child has a different painting experience every time they sit down to paint. It also doesn't have to cost a lot of money.
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Types of Paint
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By just changing the type of paint your child uses, you automatically change their experience. Tempera paint and water colors can be used with brushes. They can also be used with sponges of different shapes and textures. Consider using number and ABC shaped sponges to add even more opportunity to learn. Children can write words, spell their names, count and make patterns. Finger paint and foam paint can be used with hands and fingers. Foam paint can be sprayed directly on table tops. It won't stain and provides a ton of fun.
Vary Your Materials
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When painting with children, you can use almost any available items and they will love it. Here are a few suggestions. These work best with tempera paint. Brush paint on bubble wrap and then press paper on the wrap, cut fruit in half and dip in paint, add a little sand and glitter to the paint to give it a unique texture that sparkles, add spices to make the paint smell different, use blocks, lace or cookie cutters. Also try varying what surface you paint on. Consider painting on coffee filters, old shirts, aprons, hot pads, snow, or material scraps.
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Fun Painting Projects
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To enhance children's painting even more try putting paper in a cardboard box. Set a hot wheels car in paint, take it out and then have the child move the box around so that the car rolls around in the box making a trail of where it goes. Another idea is to put a drop of paint on a piece of paper and have children blow the paint through a straw to make a fun design. Children can also use eye droppers to drop paint on their paper and can try painting on wet paper.
Dealing with the Mess
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Get an old dress shirt from dad's closet or a resale shop. They are plenty big to protect children's clothing from paint. Be sure to put it on your child backwards to that you only have to do one button. Cover your painting surface with a plastic disposable table cloth. They are very inexpensive and can easily be folded up and thrown away. Plastic shower curtain liners work well to if you want to hose it off after each round of painting. Make a game of cleaning up by getting your child to wash off the brushes and other supplies. Set a timer and see if they can get all the paint out -- the water running clear -- before the timer goes off.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit painting image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com
