Activities
Painting with kids can be a recipe for disaster. It’s at least a recipe for a lot of prep ahead of time and a messy pile of clean up after. Painting activities encourage creativity and are quite entertaining for children of all ages, but they can also boost fine motor skills, teach kids about colors and hues, and enable children to plan and carry out a project – all while being creative.
Instead of just handing over the paint and brushes, do some minimal prep work for these 30 activities and kids will have fun – without all that time-consuming mess!
Painting activities for kids without the big mess
1. Bubble wrap
Wrap a child’s feet or hands with bubble wrap and then let them dip the bubble wrap in paint. As a child walks or presses hands on a piece of paper, the bubbles will leave imprints behind. Switching colors once or twice will make for an even more interesting work of art. When the project is finished, simply peel off the bubble wrap and toss it, making cleanup a breeze.
2. Cookie cutter stencils
Collect an assortment of old cookie cutters and show kids how to dip them into a bit of paint. The children will be amazed to see the shapes appear on their paper. Encourage creativity by demonstrating how to overlap the shapes and colors. Toss the cookie cutters in the dishwasher for a quick and easy clean up.
3. Rock painting
Head outside for a fun way to keep the paint mess off floors and tables. Work with kids to find several smooth rocks. Wash and dry them completely. Then give kids creative reign to turn the rocks into anything their little minds can imagine. Rinse the paintbrushes and cleaning up is done!
4. Fruit and vegetable imprints
Cut a variety of fruits and vegetables in half to be used as stamps. Provide plenty of colorful paint and let the kids go crazy creating patterns, mandalas, or even little painted gardens. The fruit and vegetable stamps can go right in the compost or trash when the masterpieces are complete. Talk about fruits and veggies during your painting activities.
5. Nature’s paintbrushes
Look no further than the great outdoors for some interesting paintbrushes! Quickly attach several different types of leaves and greenery to small sticks. Children can use their creativity and imagination to paint nature-inspired masterpieces. Best of all – these all-natural paintbrushes can be returned right back into nature by tossing them into the compost heap.
6. Paper plate creations
Let plain white paper plates become the canvas for an open-ended painting project. This low-prep activity lets kids dream up any number of ideas that can be transferred to a blank white “canvas.”
7. Swirl painting
Think outside the paintbox and use cream instead of paper. Pour a little cream into a bowl and give kids a cotton swab. Dab a bit of food coloring onto the cream and let kids go crazy swirling it around with the cotton swab. The marbleized effect is so satisfying, and it can be dumped down the drain for a fast clean up.
8. Sidewalk chalk paint
All you need is flour, water, and food coloring to whip up a quick batch of sidewalk chalk paint. Dissolve flour into water, pour it into a muffin tin, and add food coloring. Painting activities with simple steps empower kids to create beautiful masterpieces – even on the sidewalk! All it takes to clean up the mess is a quick spray with a garden hose.
9. Cotton ball pictures
Keep the paint spills to a minimum by filling muffin tins with several different colors. Clip a cotton ball into a clothespin for an alternative to the same old paint brush. Clean up in a snap by tossing the paint-covered cotton balls in the trash when creations are complete.
10. Leaf imprints
Send kids on a leaf hunt to find a variety of leaves in different shapes and sizes. Kids can gently push the leaves into a dish of paint and press them onto a piece of paper. The dry paintings will make some great décor while the leaves can be tossed out.
11. Magic watercolors
Build in a bit of spelling or sight word practice by using a white crayon to write words on a piece of white paper. Kids can use watercolors to paint over the words and they will magically appear. Even more magical is how quick and easy this project is to clean up!
12. Ice painting
Fill an ice cube tray with water. Add a drop or two of food coloring to each section. Break a craft stick in half and mix each section well, and then leave the stick in the paint. Kids can experiment with shade by adding different amounts of food coloring to each. Freeze the “paints” overnight and then kids can get busy painting large sheets of white paper. The ice cube tray can go in the dishwasher and the craft sticks can go in the trash, making this fun project also quick to clean up.
13. Straw art
Make any number of things, from monsters to aliens to germs! All you need is paint, a straw, and google eyes. Place a small drop of paint on a piece of paper and have children use their straws to blow the paint, creating random splatters. After the paint dries, kids can glue on google eyes to finish off their creations. A shake of glitter on the wet paint will add some sparkle! The straws are easy to rinse and reuse when kids beg to make more creatures.
14. Building block painting
Turn all those building blocks laying around into a fun new version of a paintbrush. The circle images can be used to create so many different things, such as leaves on fall trees, ornaments on a Christmas tree, or seashells on beach scene. A quick run through the dishwasher and they’ll be ready for building or more painting.
15. Kid-friendly spray painting
It would be a messy disaster to give kids real spray paint. A kid-friendly version is a cleaner, but still a fun way to experiment with the spray technique. Fill small spray bottles with water and food coloring. Give kids pieces of paper or cloth and let them spray away. Simply wash the bottles in the dishwasher to keep them handy for future projects!
16. Toilet paper tube shapes
Turn toilet paper tubes into recyclable homemade stencils by folding and bending them into shapes. Better yet, allow students to make their own stencils! They can dip the ends of each toilet paper tube into paint and press them onto paper. In addition to being fun and simple to clean up, this project can help teach young children shapes.
17. Random object prints
Turn your kids into little abstract impressionists by collecting an assortment of household objects, such as a potato masher, a water bottle lid, or a toothbrush. Encourage children to create abstract mosaics by using a variety of the object stamps, as well as several different colors. Choosing items that go in the dishwasher will make cleanup super speedy.
18. Paint the windows
As crazy as letting kids paint the windows sounds, it’s a low-prep painting project that will bring a lot of joy and only minimal clean up. Provide water-based paint and chunky paintbrushes and let kids turn windows into stained glass works of art. The paint will wipe off with water or window cleaner.
19. Fork painting
A fork and a dish of paint will open a world of creative options to kids. Perhaps the fork imprints can become the mane on a lion or the feathers on a duck. Forks are easy to wash and the creations can be further enhanced with hand-drawn details such as faces.
20. Sponge prints
Cut inexpensive dry kitchen sponges into shapes – both actual shapes and random shapes. Kids can press the sponges into paint and press them onto paper to make collages. The sponges can easily be tossed in the trash or hand-washed to reuse.
21. Tire tracks
Squirt small drops of paint onto large pieces of paper. Give kids toy cars and have them drive the cars through the paint to create tire track art. Add interest and excitement to the project by using several colors and cars with different tire patterns. Plastic cars can go through the dishwasher to keep cleaning up from becoming a headache.
22. Bubble art
Add a bit of food coloring to bottles of bubbles. Provide large pieces of paper and an outdoor workspace to keep the mess outside. Kids should dip the bubble wand into the “paint” and blow bubbles onto the paper. The bubbles will pop, leaving behind a satisfying image. Kids can experiment by blowing the bubbles close to the paper and far away from the paper to see what kinds of images they can invent.
23. Dinosaurs as paintbrushes
Turn plastic dinosaurs into more than toys that battle and go on adventures. They also make great paintbrushes! Dinosaurs can leave fossil footprints behind while the entire side of the dinosaur can create elaborate prehistoric pictures. The dinosaurs easily come clean in the silverware basket of the dishwasher.
24. Foil imprints
Wad up bits of foil into different sized balls, using them to paint moon craters, a sandy beach, and more. For easy cleanup, the foil can be rinsed and tossed in the recycle bin – even your kids can take responsibility for this one!
25. Thumbprint art
Thumbprints can become so many things! Holiday lights are just the beginning. By adding legs and faces, kids can make an entire thumbprint zoo. Add clothes and faces to create awesome family trees. Fruits, vegetables, sports balls, cars, pizzas – kids are only limited by their imaginations. All that is needed for cleanup is a quick hand wash!
26. 3-D paint
Homemade puffy paint is a sure way to inspire creativity. All it takes is glue and shaving cream! Add glitter or food coloring to jazz up the paint. Once dry, the paint is puffy, shiny, and smooth.
27. Cotton swab paintbrushes
Cotton swabs don’t have to be limited to health care! A cotton swab dipped in paint can create so many different pointillism images. Dabbed on paper towels, the cotton swabs and watercolors can make images resembling stained glass. Dipped in paint and pressed onto paper, then can create mandalas, patterns or a new pointillism masterpiece. Cotton swabs can quickly be tossed when the painting is done.
28. Balloon painting
A couple blown up balloons and a few colors of paint makes for a fun, low mess art project. Kids can try using the smooth side of the balloon or the end with the tie to create different images. Since all the paint is the on the balloons, cleaning up is no big deal.
29. Plastic wrap masterpieces
Stretch some plastic wrap between two full water bottles to create a new kind of canvas. The completed project will resemble stained glass. The fact that the plastic wrap is already stretched between water bottles also doubles as a drying rack, making messy paint transfer nothing to worry about.
30. Marble images
Place a piece of paper in a tray and squirt in a few drops of paint. Add a marble and kids can roll the tray around to drag the marble through the different colors. The tray keeps the paint contained and the finished products are worthy of display.
When painting projects don’t make a mess, they are more fun for everyone involved! Kids get to explore their creativity while adults don’t have to spend hours scrubbing paint out of any surface the project came into contact with. A new masterpiece hanging on the refrigerator and no mess – what could be better?
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