Art activities for preschoolers and toddlers are a great way to foster creativity and fine motor skills development. From finger painting to bubble wrap printing, there are many easy painting activities that young children will love to do. In this post, I will take you through some easy painting ideas and activities for toddlers and young kids to help kick start their creativity.
Equipment List
Before you start any painting activity with your child, it’s best to have the following items ready:
– A wipe-clean tablecloth (one that fits over the whole table is best)
– Paintbrushes in at least a couple of different sizes/thicknesses
– Other painting ‘tools’ you want your child to experiment with (e.g. sponges, cotton buds, cotton balls, string etc.)
– A tub of water to wash the brushes
– Old clothing to dress your child in
– A coverall or apron for your child
– A wet cloth for wiping hands, faces and surfaces
1. Finger Painting
Finger painting is a classic and fun painting activity that allows little hands to get messy while exploring different textures and colours. Simply give your toddler some washable paint and a large sheet of paper, and let them express their creativity through their fingertips. It’s not only a great sensory experience but also a fantastic way for toddlers to experiment with colour mixing. You can either buy a large roll of paper for this kind of activity or stick sheets of A4 paper together to create a larger canvas for them.
If you use masking tape instead of plastic sticky tape to do this, it’s easier to recycle and kinder to the environment (I try to replace plastic sticky tape with masking tape wherever possible these days, or use the plant-based sticky tape that is now available to buy).
Another tip is to make sure your child’s fingernails are clipped short before they start. Every young child should have the experience of covering the whole of their hands in paint at least once, and this makes hand washing/nail cleaning afterwards a lot easier!
2. Bubble Wrap Printing
Bubble wrap printing is a unique and exciting art project that young children can enjoy. The bumpy texture of the bubble wrap offers a different tactile experience compared to traditional paint brushes. Spread paint over the bubble wrap using fingers or a wide brush, press it onto a piece of paper, and discuss the intriguing patterns and textures it makes on the paper with your child.
3. Shaving Cream Sensory Play
Shaving cream is a fun way to combine sensory play with an art activity. Squirt some non-fragranced shaving cream that’s suitable for sensitive skin onto a tray, add a few drops of food colouring or paint, and let your child mix and smush the shaving cream with their hands before applying to to paper. Sometimes even shaving cream designed for sensitive skin can cause a reaction on your child’s skin. If this happens, wash the area with warm water and consider trying a different brand (or not using shaving cream again if the reaction is particularly bad).
4. Cotton Ball Painting
Cotton ball painting is a fun yet simple painting idea for toddlers. Dip cotton balls in different colours of paint and encourage your child to create their masterpiece by dabbing and stamping them onto white paper. They can also drag the cotton ball around the paper to create a smoother paint effect. Cotton balls can also be teased apart and stuck onto paper to create satisfying clouds, candy floss, or anything else that requires a fluffy, puffy texture.
5. Ziploc Bag Painting
Ziploc bag painting is a mess-free and easy painting activity for little kids. Squirt a small amount of poster paint inside a Ziploc bag, seal it tightly, and let your toddler move the paint around by smushing and spreading it with their fingers. It’s an excellent way for kids to explore different shapes and colours without the mess (minus the odd burst bag here and then if they smush a bit too hard!). These bags can be rinsed out at the end of the activity and turned inside out to dry, which means they can be reused multiple times instead of going straight into the bin.
6. Cotton Buds Painting
Painting with cotton buds is another great way for toddlers to express their creativity. Dip them into paint and show your child how to create more detailed and precise artwork on a piece of paper using the extra small heads. This method is perfect for developing fine motor skills and teaching kids to paint with care, and introduces young children to the technique known as Pointillism (see here for some interesting information about the history of this technique: https://finearttutorials.com/guide/pointillism/)
7. Watercolour Resist with White Crayon
Watercolour resist is a fantastic art activity for very young children and older children alike. Get them to draw or write on white paper with a white crayon, and then use watercolour paint to cover the paper. The crayon will resist the paint, creating a unique piece of art. If you don’t have any watercolours, just mix a little water with some poster paint to dilute it instead.
8. Puffy Paint with Edible Finger Paints
As with shaving cream, puffy paint is a great sensory activity for younger children – only it’s even better because your child can eat it! Create edible finger paints by mixing yoghurt with food colouring, or you could use whipped cream as an alternative. Your toddler can use this cream or yoghurt paint in a range of colours to create textured and puffy artwork on white paper whilst having a cheeky nibble at the same time!
9. String Painting
This fun art activity involves dipping pieces of string into various colours of washable paint, and then dropping the paint-soaked string onto paper, either pressing, rolling or dragging it to create a canvas of beautiful art in abstract designs. It’s a true combination of play and art, and is super easy to set up. String painting brings out the Picasso in every child.
10. Line Painting With a Hard Edge
Another new way of getting creative with paint is to let your child create an abstract line picture by dipping items with a hard, thin edge into paint and stamping it on paper. Old bank cards/credit cards are great for this, as they’re short enough to fit into a small tray or plat of paint. If you’re short on time, just give your child one colour of paint for this activity, or let them go crazy with several different colours if time allows.
11. Printing Using Different Objects
It’s a good idea to start collecting small items in a variety of shapes that your child can dip into paint and stamp onto paper during art sessions. Wine-bottle corks and bottle tops are more obvious items, but when you start looking around your house and outdoors, you will be amazed at how many interestingly shaped items you can find for your child to let their imagination go wild. This is also a great activity to teach children about the concept of recycling and repurposing everyday items.
12. Large Scale Painting
An early years teacher once told me that while small-scale A3 or A4-sized painting activities are very worthwhile for young children, it’s also important to allow children to experiment with drawing and painting on a larger scale. Small-scale activities let children practise fine motor skills, while larger-scale activities give them much-needed practice at gross motor skills.
Painting a mural on a giant piece of cardboard or a wall using a large brush, for example, is an easy way to encourage children to move their whole arm around to apply the paint rather than just using their fingers to control a small paintbrush on a piece of A4. Giant sponges, extra wide brushes and decorating rollers/trays are all great tools to encourage big-scale painting outdoors and are relatively cheap to buy if you don’t have any already.
Put aside any giant cardboard boxes to use a canvas against an outside wall, or if you’re feeling brave, consider letting your child paint the side of the house! If you make sure to use non-toxic, washable paint, you can easily hose it all off at the end (or just let the rain wash it away). If you have any pale-coloured or white walls somewhere outside, they make an even better canvas for murals than brick walls do. Large-scale painting is probably the messiest painting activity of all, so make sure your child is wearing old clothing or overalls when you let them loose with the paints outside!
13. Painting Together
Children of any age, even really little ones will love any kind of painting activity with their friends. Get together with other parents, spread out a big roll of paper on the floor or the table (probably best to be outside if it’s on the floor) and let them get creative together! They will no doubt encourage and inspire each other and let’s face it, most experiences are more fun when they’re shared!
Check out this video to see just how much fun kids can have when they paint on the same paper together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP_ol1IqDZo
Conclusion
Here I have outlined just some of the easy painting ideas and activities for toddlers and young children. More important than the finished product, painting is a lot of fun for kids and includes the development of fine motor skills, gross motor skills and sensory play. The painting process can be very calming and meditative even for very young children, and it’s a great way to help them express emotion in a fun and relaxed environment. During painting activities, children also learn the valuable skills of visual expression, spatial intelligence, and colour recognition.
I hope you will see from this post that there’s a whole host of easy, fun and engaging painting activities for you to try with your toddler. Remember, even older kids will enjoy these activities as well, so keep giving your child opportunities to get creative with paint as they grow!
So, get those painting supplies ready, and watch your child’s creativity flourish as they create colourful art while having a good time. Painting activities with really little kids are much less stressful for adults when they have the right equipment ready before they start (see the beginning of this post). Don’t forget to protect their clothes with a painting smock, apron or overalls (or have them wear old clothes) and always use non-toxic washable paint.
Links and Resources
I often head to The Works when I need to replenish art and painting supplies (there’s a branch on most UK high streets). They have a fantastic range that’s really good value, and while the quality of the paints and tools I buy from there isn’t always the best, this really doesn’t matter for very young children. Now that my daughter is seven and a keen artist, we tend to spend more money on things like quality paints and coloured pencils for her, but I honestly don’t think it’s worth the extra money when they’re very young.
We used the brilliant Tidy Tot with both our children for baby-led weaning and painting activities. Whether your child is eating or getting creative, I would highly recommend investing in one of these award-winning coverall/tray sets to minimise mess on clothes and the floor, or seeing if you can pick one up second-hand if you don’t want to buy new: https://tidytot.com/
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