2 Easy Ways to Paint With A toddler
This year for Christmas my sister gave me one of my FAVORITE gifts ever. In a couple of simple steps, she helped my son paint his first picture, and yes, there might have been a few tears when I opened it up. We’ve had such a fun time since then painting more pictures and we’ve found these two methods are super easy and work really well!
As a kid, I loved to paint, draw, and make things (I can’t tell you how many times I burned myself with a hot glue gun, I’m looking at you early 2000’s kids). Regardless of the glue-related injuries I sustained, it was always a blast, and I’ve been so excited to start making things with my son. Painting is great for sensory exploration and learning colors! And it doesn’t hurt that the end result is a great gift for a grandparent.
Ziplock Bag Painting:
Galloon size Ziplock Bag
Cardstock/Heavy Paper
Non-Toxic Paint
Masking Tape (optional)
This method is simple, easy, and as an added bonus basically mess free! Pour various colors of paint onto the cardstock, I let my son pick the colors he wanted to use and let him tell me where to put them on the paper. Dash is big into naming colors right now so it’s a great time to talk through all the colors. Helpful hint: put more paint down than you think you need, you want there to be enough that your little one can really push it around the page. Once the paint is on the page carefully put it in the ziplock and seal the bag tightly. Tape all four sides down on a flat surface with masking tape. This is optional but I find it helpful so the bag doesn’t slide all over the place. And now it’s time to play! Once the masterpiece is complete, carefully remove it from the ziplock bag and let it dry. You definitely want to do this immediately because if it dries the paper can get stuck in the bag. I try to lift the ziplock as far from the painting as I can before I slide it out, if the ziplock is too close to the page when you remove it will smear the picture. Let the picture dry and enjoy!
Finger Paint:
Non-Toxic Finger Paints
Cardstock/Heavy Paper
Paperbags
Masking Tape
This is a classic and pretty self-explanatory, but still fun and worth doing! I used Crayola brand finger paints for ages 1+ but there are also tons of eco-friendly and food-safe finger paints on the market that I can’t wait to try out. I’ll be honest this one got messy, but that’s part of the fun. I taped some paper bags on the floor so we had a non-slip space to work on that was easy to clean up.
