Child painting in the kindergarten

Have Fun While Painting with Your Preschooler

If you’re tired of the dried up paintbrushes with the crusty, frayed bristles – ditch them! It’s time to get creative and have some real fun while painting with your preschooler this time. Here are several ideas that will help you get started on bringing the fun back to painting with your preschooler:

Flower Painting

  1. Flowers are nature’s alternative to paintbrushes! Go outside with your child and pick some wildflowers or have her pick a few from an old bouquet that you no longer want on display.
  2. Once you have your flowers cut and ready, show her how to press them into the paint and then onto the paper plate or cardstock.
  3. Explain to your child how the flower’s petals act similarly to a brush’s bristles.

Leaf Painting

  1. Go outside with your child and have him pick out leaves of different shapes and sizes. Make sure that they are still fresh and green and not dried out. Crunchy leaves will be too stiff to lay in the paint and will just end up falling apart and messing up your paint.
  2. Pour different color paints onto a large cookie sheet and then smear them around. Your child can use his fingers or a spatula to reduce the messiness.
  3. Lay the leaves flat onto the paint and have your child press them down so that the entire leaf, including all of the crevices, gets covered in the paint.
  4. Peel the leaf off the paint carefully and give it to your child to press down onto a clean sheet of paper. Make sure he presses it down firmly so that as much paint as possible is transferred from the leaf onto the paper.

Straw Painting

  1. Have your child dip the end of a paper straw into a paint color of her choice.
  2. Show your child how to blow into the straw from the clean end and watch as the streaks and spatters begin to form on the paper below.
  3. Repeat the process with different colors and have her get creative with different designs as well.

Bubble Wrap Painting

  1. Use double-sided tape to attach bubble wrap to a rolling pin so that it’s covered all the way around.
  2. Have your child dip a sponge in paint and use the paint covered sponge to coat the bubble wrap rolling pin in the paint.
  3. Let your child roll their rolling pin across a large sheet of paper to create a textured masterpiece.
  4. You can repeat the process with other textured materials such as the mesh bag that oranges come in or even rubber bands.

At Prep Academy Schools, we believe in creativity and letting children express themselves by letting their imaginations come to life! Although we have our students participate in many fun activities right here in our classrooms, it’s important to let their creativity flow at home as well. We encourage parents to continue growing the gallery of artwork on the refrigerator and most importantly to have fun with their preschooler through activities like these!