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10 Easy And Innovative Art Activities For Kids
Art is a complex field where one is allowed to express themselves in a unique and limitless manner. It is all about vibrant colors, channeling positive energies, and celebrating unique ideas.
No matter how simple a project might be, it will surely put up a smile on your child’s face! Getting your child started on art activities is a great way to channel their creativity and thoughts.
Get your children engaged in art projects instead of indulging them in non-productive activities such as video gaming or Netflix binge-watching. This article will introduce some great art activities that children of all ages and sizes will enjoy practicing.
Here’s a video on some crazy and out-of-the-box activities for you to take inspiration from.
3 Crafty Art Activities for Girls
Most girls love intricate designs and delicate crafts without compromising the color spectrum. Bold splashes of color and dazzling hues attract them; this is what these activities below will focus on!
Watercolor Bookmarks
These bookmarks are sure to bring joy and happiness. With the use of soft brush strokes and mingling combinations, your child will start to apprehend her talent as an artist. These are very easy to execute and handle. Make sure to help your child with the scissors and hole puncher.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Watercolor paper (you can also recycle cardboard paper)
- Watercolor paints (or poster paints for cardboard)
- Paintbrush set
- Container for water
- Scissors
- Hole puncher
- Ribbons or coarse threads
- Glitter (or any other additional craft supplies)
Simply cut the paper into the desired size (preferably 5×7 inches) and let your child take over the project. They will play around with watercolors, paints, glitter, and crayons to create a masterpiece. Once the creative requirements are complete, it’s time to punch a hole and pass through a ribbon of your choice.
P.s: if you’re using watercolor paper, make sure it’s damp before you start painting.
DIY T-Shirt Painting
Say no to boring plain shirts because it’s time to dip them into a bucket of creativity. If you have a pair of plain white T-shirts at home that you can spare for your child, then get ready to execute a fun-filled art project. Your children will feel pleased to design their T-shirts with their own sense of style and glamor.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Plain cotton T-shirts (preferably white)
- Paintbrushes
- Acrylic paint
- Glitter
- Container for water
- Napkins (to wipe off spills and mess)
- Additional craft supplies (threads, sequins, pendants, etc.)
Make sure the shirt is pre-washed so that your paint adheres to the shirt. Moreover, using the shirt damp will result in vibrant color pay-off. Let your child run free and solo with her unique designs; let her brew some magic! However, since this activity is likely to create a lot of mess, make sure to spread out some sheets or practice it outdoors.
Raised Salt Paintings
Raised salt paintings are a unique art project. With good use of innovation and experimentation, these paintings will prove to be as good as any painting in a junior art gallery. Did I mention that they are so fun to create? Even adults will enjoy making them!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Canvas or card stock
- Liquid white glue (in squeezable bottles)
- Table salt
- Glitter
- Container for water
- Liquid watercolors
- Droppers
Start off by setting the canvas in a comfortable position. Use the squeezable white glue to draw the desired patterns, characters, or designs. If the nozzle is too narrow, slightly cut it off from the top to allow more glue to flow. While the glue is still wet, sprinkle the table salt over the glue outline. Now it’s time to go bold with the colors. Use the dropper to tint the salt with vibrant shades of choice. Let it dry, and it’s ready to be put up on a wall.
3 Crafty Art Activities for Boys
Boys usually like going rowdy and rough with their projects, and they take more interest in animals or superheroes than most girls do. However, their love for dramatic colors and smooth transitions remains unparalleled. We selected these activities for your boys with the same virtues in mind.
Origami Corner-Page Bookmarks
These bookmarks have different anatomy than the one mentioned above. Boys will love making these because they can replicate their favorite animal or character in the form of a bookmark! Since there’s a lot of Origami action going on, these bookmarks turn out unique and more geometrical in shape.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Cardstock
- A pair of scissors
- Measuring scale
- Pencils
- Glue
- Art supplies (color pencils, crayons, glitter, etc.)
Create your basic bookmark shape by following the instructions in this video (it’s just a 90-second video). Once that’s done, it’s time to decorate the bookmark. You could use a pair of googly eyes and saw-tooth scissors to create a monster bookmark or simply paste the picture of an action figure on the triangular top. The options are endless!
Confetti Paper Rockets
What better than paper rockets? Confetti-filled paper rockets! And don’t worry, they won’t blow your house down! These crafty figures are explosively fun and so easy to make—something your boys will thoroughly enjoy creating.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Cylindrical tin cans or paper towel tubes
- Colored paper sheets
- Crepe paper
- Confetti
- Strings
- Tape
- Glue
- Ribbons
- Staplers
- Scissors
- Hole puncher
Since this activity is time-consuming and demands intricacy, we suggest going through this video . It’s a relatively straightforward process, and the creative element can be highlighted when it comes to the decoration part. These little poppers are perfect for the 4th of July or any other patriotic celebration. Needless to say, making them is no less than a joyful ride!
Tin Can Birdhouse or Birdfeeder
Whether it’s treehouses or birdhouses, boy love ‘em! And there’s no better way to encourage a love for nature and recycling than these soda-can birdhouse art projects. Next time you purchase a can of soda, make sure to save it for this DIY project that will teach your children the importance of ‘giving back’ to nature.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Washed Soda cans (you can also use plastic bottles)
- Scissors
- Cutters
- Spray cans of your choice
- Coarse strings
- Additional craft supplies for the decoration
This project is effortless. However, I would advise parents or teachers to exercise caution since it involves the use of sharp cutters. You could take over the cutting part and hand them over to the children for assembly and decoration.
First, some of our favorite paint supplies for kids
– Waterproof craft smock for kids, with pockets. Long sleeve! Long sleeve! Here’s a 2-pack craft smock alternative that’s adorable, and fits kids a little older.
– Reusable canvas drop cloth to protect tables, floors, and countertops with less waste.
– Fat preschool paintbrush set (the brushes are fat, not the preschooler)
– Tabletop paper roll dispenser and additional paper rolls are especially great if you don’t have an easel
11 creative paint projects for kids: Get as messy as you want!
Paint splat painting
We can’t decide what’s more fun about Crafty Morning’s paint splat art project for kids — whamming each cotton round with the rubber mallet, or the surprise of paint color that comes when you smack it. Check her site for a painting project so much fun you’ll want to join in.
Salt painting
This firework salt painting project spotted at Busy Mommy Media is incredible — it actually sparkles when it’s finished because of the salt! The supplies are stuff you likely have at home anyway (or go ahead and buy some affordable baking pans just for craft use). She’s even got tips for swapping in food coloring instead of paints if you’d rather go that route.
Bubble wrap paint stomping
How much fun is this bubble wrap stomp painting project at Mess for Less? Talk about making the kids happy when they’re stuck indoors. When they’re finished painting — with their feet, no less — you can even let them add stickers or color with crayons or markers.
Crumpled paper painting
The technique for making this crumpled paper paint project inspired by the children’s book Ish is so clever, and we think the result looks pretty enough to turn into stationery when the kids are finished. Or something else that we never would have thought of at all. Kids are awesome that way. Visit Buggy and Buddy for a whole lot of inspiration.
Bubble blower painting
We are so taken with this bubble blower paint project at Childhood 101, which uses bubble solution and food coloring together for a very cool effect. We love all the great photos showing you all kinds of amazing results your children can get.
Shaving cream paint art
If you have never tried your hands at shaving cream paint art, there’s a great tutorial at In Lieu of Preschool (via web archive). All you really need is shaving cream and paint; or for an edible version you could use whipped frosting and food coloring. It’s a great one for toddlers, but even tweens love the marbleized result.
Tea bag painting
It never occurred to us to use flavored tea bags as an art supply, but that’s the brilliant idea behind this tea bag painting project at Fantastic Fun and Learning. Kids will get a full-sensory experience with this one.
Pendulum painting
We love it when science and art collide, and this pendulum painting project for kids from Innovation Kids Lab is an awesome way to explore both with your kids. It’s like one of the hands-on projects they may have tried at a science museum, only no admission fee. Win!
Colored salt play
If you’re still staring at snow out your window, check out this very cool project at Artful Parent that lets kids use colored salt to melt ice. It’s a fun way to play with all that fun white stuff without getting bundled up to go outside in a storm, and it doubles as a science lesson on how salt and ice interact. But the tons of water colors that kids will get to use definitely makes it extra fun.
Magic milk painting
Magic milk paint is a science experiment disguised as a craft project, and it’s one of our kids’ very favorite rainy-day activities. It doesn’t even require real paint, just food coloring. Check out the instructions at Modern Parents Messy Kids, one of our favorite sites for fun crafts for kids — but we’d like to add that we’ve found that milk, or even buttermilk, works best. That way, the second the dish soap hits the food coloring it swirls like crazy.
Foil ball painting
You don’t have to wait for any particular season to make tree crafts. Our kids love it all year long! We can’t wait to try this fun foil ball painting project trick at Teach, Play, Repeat — then let the kids pick from pastels for spring, or earthy tones for fall. Or if you’re looking for a winter version, use colored paper and you can let the kids go to town with white paint.
Written by Kate Etue
Senior Associate Editor Kate Etue divides her time between the book industry, checking out the newest trends for kids, whipping up our weekly meal plans, and homeschooling her children in a cool suburb of Nashville.
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3 Comments
Amos on February 11, 2016 at 7:33 am
Wish i was this age. Reply
Olga on February 13, 2016 at 5:02 am
Amos, it’s never too late. We, adults, are always just big kids Reply
Olga on February 13, 2016 at 5:05 am
The ideas are so much inspiring that I have a strong desire to urgently make something like that I love making something new and creative! Reply
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