Updated March 2024

We love painting, but sometimes it can feel like we do the same old painting activities over and over again. So here are 7 new painting ideas to try!

And if you are looking for recommendations on what paint to use, check out our post on the best paints for kids.

Painting Ideas for Kids

1. Spin Painting

All you need is paint, circular paper, and a salad spinner for this super-fun action art activity.

2. Drip Painting

Explore gravity in art with this easy and fun art activity that results in unique artwork every time.

3. Blot Art

Also known as blotto painting, smush painting, or squish painting. No matter what you call it, though, it’s a super fun art activity.

4. Pointillism Art with Cotton Swabs 

Q-tip painting is an easy art project you can set up quickly. It can also be used to learn about Seurat, Pointillism, and Impressionism.

5. Blow Painting with Straws

Simple, yet lots of fun for kids of all ages. Use a straw to blow liquid paint around on the paper, creating interesting designs.

6. Splatter Painting

Splatter painting is a favorite messy art activity for kids of all ages!

7. Rainbow Scrape Painting

Scraper art is a fun, process art activity for kids and can be used to create a variety of textures and looks, including scraper art rainbows.

More Painting Ideas for Kids

• The Best Art Ideas for Kids in 2023
• The Best Paints for Kids
• 11 Amazing Painting Activities for Preschoolers
• Painting with Wheels
• Splat Painting: Easy and Fun Action Art for Children
• Painting for Kids at The Artful Parent

Want even more creative ideas?

Check out our Artful Parent Starter Pack!

Engage your kids through art and creativity with this printable booklet where you’ll find all of our best tips, tricks, and ideas for getting started on your artful parenting journey!

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Updated March 2024

To celebrate Earth Day next week, our team gathered together a list of 30 Earth Day activities for kids.

Through art, there exists a great opportunity to teach children to be good stewards.  Children learn to reuse lids, caps and milk cartons. To turn a cardboard box into a castle, fort, or robot. To recycle cardboard tubes and create sculptures.

The possibility to assemble and make new things while recycling or upcycling the old sparks children’s imagination as they explore these non-traditional materials.

And a short walk outside with my son allows us the opportunity to breathe deep, soak in the sunshine and fresh air. We gather pinecones and sticks, some rocks and more sticks. Then to head home with our new treasures.

As we collect recyclables, save cardboard and consider how to give something old a new purpose, our kids are watching and learning this skill themselves. Below are some ideas that will hopefully inspire and put some of that recycling bin to creative use.

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day Activities for Kids

7 Recycled Art Projects Using Reusable Materials

1. Make a Cardboard Loom for Kids

Learn a simple weaving activity for kids with cardboard looms and recycled fabric scraps. Then create a beautiful piece of art to hang in your home!

2. Self-Portrait Collages Using Recycle Bin Materials

Learn how to create a self-portrait collage with simple recycle bin materials. A fun and educational activity for kids that helps them explore self-identity.

3. Make DIY Costumes from Recycled Materials

Here are a few simple techniques for making fabulous DIY kids costumes with a variety of recycled materials.

4. The BEST Toddler Art Activities

Paint a nature wall, create a collaborative recycled wall, reuse plastic caps and lids for sensory bins & use sticks, leaves and the like for set-ups!

5. Milk Carton Sailboat

Perfect for the sailboat loving kid in your life–use a recycled milk carton to create an amazing little sailboat (from Art Camp Studio).

6. Simple Flower Crowns from Paper Bags

Kids can feel like royalty with this awesome craft using recycled paper bags. 

7. Painted Wood Blocks Sculptures

An easy sculpture project using wood scraps that’s fun to make for kids of all ages. 

14 Recycled Art Projects Using Cardboard

1. Mixed Media Collage Portraits for Kids

These adorable collage portraits are a great way to reuse a cardboard box and are SO cute. 

2. Make Cardboard Robot Puppets that Move

These robot puppets are friendly on the Earth and SO fun to play with and create. 

3. Create Monochrome Art Collages

Gather collage materials and cardboard to make these vibrant little collages.

4. Make DIY Valentines for Kids

Make adorable valentine hearts that are great for Valentine’s Day, or any day really!

5. Make Miro-Inspired Magic Animal Masks

Create wild and colorful animal masks with cardboard, paint, and a few other materials. 

6. Make a Rainbow Cardboard Sculpture

Create a colorful stacked rainbow sculpture using painted cardboard rainbows.

7. Drip Painting

Create a DIY cardboard easel and explore gravity in art with drip painting that results in unique artworks every time.

8. Make Colorful Cardboard Tree Sculptures

These cheerful cardboard sculptures look like trees and are super easy and fun to make.

9. Make Cardboard Masks for Kids

Create vibrant cardboard masks perfect for imaginative play!

10. Giant Cardboard Donuts

Just looking at these giant cardboard donuts is sure to bring a smile to your face (from Art Bar Blog).

11. Make a Cardboard Castle for Hours of Pretend Play

Need we say more? 

12. Make DIY Stamps with Cardboard

Design and create your very own stamps to print with.

13. Make Cardboard Building Discs

Kids can create their own building material by transforming a box into cardboard building discs. Stack the discs to make these awesome sculptures!

14. Create a Cardboard Art Forest

Create an amazing magic forest with this easy cardboard art project for kids. Makes a fun creative play setup for kids.

8 Nature Art Projects for Earth Day

1. Nature Art Ideas for Kids

Try one of these fun nature art activities for young children: paint with mud, print with leaves, create a nature weaving or petal playdough!

2. Make a Nature Mobile for Kids

A beautiful craft to showcase your child’s nature treasures. 

3. Make a Magical 3D Nature Suncatcher

Use a cardboard box to create a unique and fun way to experiment with light, color, and natural materials.

4. Nature Drawing: How to Draw Feathers

Kids can make their own feather art with this great opportunity to explore some of nature’s patterns, shapes, and lines. 

5. Make a Nature Diorama

Gather pinecones, leaves and seed pods on a nature walk. Then paint and assemble these materials with this fun nature diorama project for kids.

6. Make a Flower Suncatcher

A simple and beautiful project using light and color. 

7. Try Flower Pounding

Flower pounding is such a fun process art activity! Make prints on fabric with the pigment of flowers. Then turn the flower prints into beautiful flags.

8. Or Flower Printing!

Start by gathering flowers and leaves from your garden or backyard. Then you can use just about any kind of paint you have to make gorgeous flower prints!

Which of these Earth Day activities will you try with your family?

More Spring Activities for Kids

• 30 Spring Activities for Kids
• Nature and Garden Crafts for Kids
• 12 Ideas for Spring Crafts for Kids
• 13 Nature Walk Activities for Kids
• 7 Children’s Books About Spring
• 20 Spring Crafts for Kids

Want even more creative ideas?

Check out our Spring Creativity pack!

Let creativity blossom with this fun bundle of art activities perfect for Spring!! This 40-page printable eBook is full of coloring pages, drawing prompts, games, and more!

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Updated March 2024

We all love symmetry painting, right? Kids love it. It’s easy, fun, and the result is unique every time.

These symmetry paintings are also known by many other names. Some people call them inkblot prints, blotto painting or prints, smash art, smush art, squish painting, and more.

Regardless of the name, what could be more perfect for painting butterflies?!

They turn out beautifully every time!

Here’s a video of the butterfly painting art activity in action.

How to Paint Butterflies

MATERIALS

• Paper
• Scissors
• Tempera paint
• Small cups
• Spoons

Variations and Ideas

• Add details to your butterflies after the paint dries. For example, you could draw details or faces over the dry paint with markers. Or glue googly eyes on the faces.
• You can also make regular symmetry paintings (on rectangular paper), then cut the butterflies out after the paintings dry.
• Tack a kaleidoscope of butterflies onto the wall together (that’s what a group of butterflies is called!) or string them into a butterfly bunting.

More Nature Painting Ideas

• Gorgeous Watercolor Butterflies
• 5 Nature Based Art Ideas for Toddlers & Preschoolers
• 22 Nature Art Ideas for Kids
• 13 Nature Walk Ideas
• Painting Butterfly Mobiles
• 12 Ideas for Spring Crafts for Kids

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Updated April 2024

My kids LOVE foam painting. It’s fun, it’s fluffy and they like to paint their toys, cars, bodies and anything else in reach.

It’s easy to cleanup, I promise!

This is one of those art activities that we save for warmer weather. Then the mess is less stressful, and the kids can have all the fun they want. And cleanup is easy. Keep everything contained on a tray or hose the kids down with water afterwards.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, back to how much my kids love this art and play activity.

Foam Painting for Kids

We use our foam paint for sensory play mostly. I set out some animals, dinosaurs, or transportation vehicles and let my kids paint. (This usually leads to painting their whole bodies so I keep them minimally dressed for this project.)

To include the kids on the cleanup, I like to set out a tub of soapy water and extend the play. With sponges, they get to work with giving their toys a bath.

(If you’re looking to try foam paint on paper, see this post. You can use the same supplies with a totally different art experience!)

How to Make Foam Paint

MATERIALS

• shaving foam
• liquid watercolors
• paint brushes

I make foam paint with just two ingredients––shaving foam and liquid watercolors.

Mix together and whip to combine. Be sure there is no remaining unmixed paint (which can seriously stain clothing).

If you are looking for a ready-made paint, you might try this foam paint. It acts very similar to shaving foam, but smells like paint.

We guarantee your kids will love painting and playing with foam paint!

More Sensory Play for Kids

• What to Do with Foam Paint?
• How to Make Aquafaba for Kids
• How to Make Oobleck
• The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Play
• What is Sensory Play & Why It’s Important for Kids
• Shaving Cream Sensory Play Ideas for Kids

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Updated April 2024

We don’t know about you, but our kids are into space right now! Pretending to be astronauts, reading and learning about space and NASA, you name it and they’re into it!

And of course, you can’t explore space without creating some really cool art along the way! Here are some of our favorite space art activities. These projects are open-ended and great for a wide range of ages. Plus, they provide the opportunity for kids to learn about space while they create, making it an educational experience too!

And if you’re looking for some books for inspiration, check out our list of the Best Children’s Books About Space!

The Best Space Art Ideas for Kids

1. Rubbing Alcohol Swirly Planets

We LOVE the way rubbing alcohol makes watercolor paint swirl around! To make planets and moons, cover a round piece of watercolor paper with lots of paint. While the paint is still wet, use a dropper to drop rubbing alcohol onto it and watch as craters and holes appear on your planet!

2. Sparkly Salty Night Skies

To create a sparkly painting, cover your watercolor paper with paint (we used blues and blacks). Once the paper is completely filled, sprinkle coarse salt onto the wet paint. This creates an effect that looks very much like a galaxy far, far away! 

When the paintings are completely dry, brush off the salt to reveal a sparkly sky. If you’re feeling extra starry, add star stickers before you start painting to create a sticker-resist effect. Or you can flick watered down white paint onto your dry painting for even more stars!

3. Geometric Constellations

To create these fantastic geometric constellations, start with a wet wash on watercolor paper, then blend on watercolors. While it is still wet, scrunch up a big piece of plastic wrap on top of the paper.

Once the paint is dry, remove the plastic wrap. The wrinkled plastic creates all kinds of interesting lines and shapes in the paint, perfect for inspiring constellations. Use a metallic sharpie and a ruler to connect a few lines, making dots or stars at each intersection. Your kids will love creating their own unique constellations!

4. Outer Space Geoboards

If you want to create a three-dimensional space project, try an outer space geoboard! Create your own solar system with stars, planets, and moons on a round piece of cork board painted black.

Rubber bands connect the thumbtack stars to create cool constellation designs. We love that these geoboards can be based on our real solar system, or completely imaginary!

5. Neon Galaxies

We love a watercolor resist technique, and oil pastels might be our favorite way to create this cool effect. Use neon oil pastels to draw planets, stars, swirly galaxies, and even a dotted Milky Way on a large piece of watercolor paper. Then paint blue, purple, and black watercolors all over the drawings and watch as the neon colors pop up through the dark paint!

6. Spin Art Planets

Use one of our favorite action art activities to make a solar system of planets! Spin painting with a salad spinner is super easy and super fun. Use realistic colors to make real planets (think: green and blue for Earth, reds for Mars, browns and oranges for Jupiter) or any color combination you like for some imaginary planets!

You could also use just about any of our favorite art activities to make planet: shaving cream marbling, splatter painting, blow painting, you name it!

7. Out of this World Sensory Play

Use kinetic sand or your favorite sensory material (try black beans for a nighttime sky!) toss in a few space toys (we love these planets and these NASA figures) or even some glow in the dark stars and watch as your kids explore and create using their senses.

8. Galaxy Playdough

How amazing does this black and sparkly playdough look?! Make a batch of your favorite homemade playdough and use candy coloring to dye it black (you need to use the candy coloring; regular food coloring isn’t strong enough make it truly black). Add some glitter, sequins, and stars and you’re ready for a deep space sensory exploration!

Which of these awesome space art activities will you try this week?

For many of these projects, we used our favorite OOLY art products:

• Lil’ Watercolor Paint Pods
• Chroma Blends Watercolor Paint Set (Neon)
• Lil Paint Brush Set
• Chroma Blends Circular Watercolor Paper
• Chroma Blends Watercolor Paper

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Updated April 2024

As an art teacher, I am constantly introducing young children to new process-based art techniques, like salt painting, printmaking, and collage. Sometimes we have piles of art looking for a home. You probably have the same problem at your home!

Making art books with young children is like an active art portfolio you can enjoy over and over again. It’s a great coffee table book and a wonderful way to share your child’s artwork all contained in one space.

There are lots of ways you can make an art book. It can be big, small, and anywhere in between.

Here’s how we make ours.

DIY Art Books for Kids

MATERIALS

• Watercolor paper for the cover
• Craft paper or construction paper for the inside pages
• String or yarn for binding

You can also make art books for special occasions. We made some in art class for Mother’s Day that were so special. We included quotes on each page from the artist about what they love about their mom. It was such a beautiful exchange between mother and daughter.

Regardless of the occasion or no occasion at all, art books can make a precious keepsake to hold onto for years and years to come. What would you put in your art book?

Note: Your art book can be any size you want. I’m just sharing what we did but get creative. It’s your art book!

More Ways to Reuse Kids’ Artwork

• 13 Ways to Reuse Children’s Art
• 6 Easy Ways to Display Kids Artwork
• 40 Handmade Gift Ideas that Kids Can Make

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Updated April 2024

Process art is all about the making and doing rather than just the end result––which by the way––is still stunning artwork. When it comes to toddlers, process art is a wonderful way to engage young children through art.

A toddler making art is exploring the materials, the tools, his body, the world around him, and cause and effect as he creates.

Here are some of our favorite art activities for the younger artists, plus some tips of making the process successful!

Tips for Doing Arts and Crafts with Toddlers

Here are 3 top tips for a smooth experience creating art with toddlers. For more recommendations see 7 Tips for Doing Art with Toddlers.

1. Toddler Safety: Keep toddlers safe by supervising closely and giving reminders to put the art materials on the paper rather than in the mouth.

2. Describe What You See: You can give words to understand what your toddler is doing. Here’s some ideas for how to talk with your kids about art.

3. Encourage Your Toddler’s Creativity: And you can also encourage your toddler’s creativity by giving permission to explore and experiment rather than with an expectation to create as you might have.

Remember that a toddler’s attention span may be quite short. Like five minutes, even. And that’s okay. It is still well worth giving them the opportunity to explore and create with art materials, even if it is for just 5 minutes at a time.

Ready? Here is a selection of simple, process-oriented art activities for toddlers. These are the kinds of activities that they can do over and over again, in lots of different ways, as they begin to explore art.

Arts & Crafts Ideas for Toddlers

1. Playdough with Poke-Ins

We return to playdough over and over again in our home. It’s as much a staple art material as paint sticks, markers and gel crayons.

2. Sticker Collage Art

Pick up round labels from the stationary aisle at Target. They’re cheap and easy for toddlers to lift and stick for a great fine motor building workout.

3. Blot Art Prints

This is a project we return to again and again at our toddler art classes because toddlers go wild over this activity!

4. Bubble Wrap Printing

This is a fun art activity that we return to often. Tape bubble wrap to the table and then scoop a few colors of paint onto it. At some point this will likely become a finger-painting experience as little hands squish and spread the paint.

If you’d like to capture a print before the colors become too mixed, press a piece of paper onto the bubble wrap. Rub all over then gently peel it off to reveal the print!

5. Painting with Wheels

This is a fun one for toddlers and you can literally see the wheels turning (no pun intended). But seriously, their concentration is at an all-time high watching the cause and effect as car wheels create tracks across the paper.

6. Contact Paper Suncatchers

Tape some Con-Tact paper to the wall (sticky side up) and set out cut yarn, felt, tissue paper and paper shapes.

7. Watercolor Resist Painting

Another easy and beautiful process art activity that kids can return to over and over again. Get ready to frame the amazing abstract artwork that your kids will create!

And finally, never forget how much toddlers love to squeeze paints in a bottle or glue. Set out a piece of cardboard and let them happily put their little hands to work!

More Arts & Crafts Ideas for Toddlers

Visit The Artful Parent’s toddler page for lots of arts and crafts for toddlers.

Looking for art supplies for toddlers? Our post with the Best Art Supplies for Toddlers is filled with our top recommendations.

• When to Introduce Your Child to Art + Tips for Success
• 5 BEST Toddler Art Activities
• 11 Best Art Materials for Toddlers
• 5 Low Mess Creative Activities for Toddlers
• 11 Craft Ideas for Toddlers
• 7 Sensory Bins for Toddlers

Want even more toddler ideas?

Check out our Toddler Creativity Pack!

This is exactly what you need to confidently embrace art time with your little ones! This eBook has all the tips and tricks you need to feel confident introducing art to your young child.

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Updated April 2024

Invitations to create are great for all kinds of kids, both those who are constantly making and creating and those who are less likely to make art unprompted.

An invitation to create is both an opportunity to entice a child to make art, but also an opportunity to introduce a new material, technique, or activity.

Art invitations are obvious and clearly defined, unlike strewing, which is a more ambiguous and subtle way of encouraging learning and creativity. We encourage you to experiment with both.

How to Set up an Invitation to Create Art

Here are a few things to keep in mind when setting up kids art invitations.

• Use a clean table or otherwise clear space.
• Have the art invitation set up ahead of time. You can set it up the night before, during nap time, or while the kids are at school. Either set it up directly on the table, or set it up on a tray that you can keep out of the way until you’re ready to offer the art invitation.
• Keep the materials and set up simple and attractive. A single piece of paper with 1-3 different art materials, colors, etc., in small dishes, for example.
• Allow the child to explore the art invitation in their own way. You can provide some guidance at the very beginning if it seems warranted (for example, “what do you think would happen if you sprinkled some of this salt over the wet watercolors?”) but for the most part let them “own” the invitation.

Here are some of our favorite ideas for art invitations.

10 Ideas for Invitations to Create

1. Oil Pastel Painting

Set out oil pastels, cotton swabs, and a small dish of vegetable oil with a piece of sturdy paper. The oil works with the pastels to create a painted effect.

2. Playdough

Set out some playdough (homemade or store bought!) with a few small toys and let your kids create and play.

3. Sticker Mandalas

Give children some round pieces of paper and sheets of stickers and let them create concentric circles or radiating designs. 

4. Printable Drawing Prompts

Print out one of these creativity-inspiring sheets and set out with some markers or whatever is appropriate for the printable in question.

5. DIY Art Activity Pages

Or if you’d like, make one of these simple DIY art prompts.

6. Q-Tip Pointillism

A few shallow dishes of liquid watercolors, some cotton swabs, and paper are all you need for this art activity!

7. Pasta Collages

A sturdy paper plate, pasta (colored pasta is extra fun!) and some glue allow kids to create collages in any design or image they like, including mandalas.

8. Hole Art

Set out a piece of paper with a hole cut out of it along with a drawing tool, stickers, or some paints.

9. Watercolors + Salt

Sprinkling salt over wet watercolors creates magic! All you need are watercolors, a small dish of salt, and watercolor paper. Add in some foil stars or other stickers for a fun sticker resist effect.

10. Tape Art

Tape of all kinds is fun to experiment with. Add scissors and paper to a set-up with any kind of tape, but especially try washi tape or colored masking tape.

Which invitations to create will you try at home this week?

More Art Invitations for Kids

• 5 After School Art Invitations for Kids
• 13 Simple Art Activities for Kids During Transitions
• How to Set Up Creative Invitations for Kids
• Why I Like Morning Invitations with My Kids
• The Benefits of Art for Kids
• 12 Kids’ Drawing Games for Creative Fun

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Updated April 2024

There is so much you can do with a simple watercolor palette! From watercolor resist art and paper plate flowers to butterfly symmetry prints and starry night sky art, just about any watercolor technique or activity can be done with the simplest of watercolor paint sets.

First, we’ll share the materials you’ll need to get started (not many!) and a video overview of the ideas.  And don’t forget to download the free printable that you can print out!

MATERIALS

• A watercolor paint set*
• Paint brushes and a cup of water
• Sturdy art paper or watercolor paper
• Drawing tools such as crayons, oil pastels, pens, or pencils (depending on the activity)
• You may want something to protect your work surface

*In the video, we show a couple of our favorite Faber-Castell watercolor paint sets, the Connector Paint Box Watercolor Set and Watercolor Paint Set with Brush. For more of our paint recommendations, check out: The Best Paints for Kids

Watch the video above to see these 12 watercolor art projects in action or head straight to the photos and instructions below.

12 Watercolor Art Ideas

1. Watercolor Dot Art

Create pointillism-inspired dot art with cotton swabs and watercolor paint. You can create images (such as flowers, butterflies, cars, or faces), abstract art, or make a dot-to-dot picture for a friend or sibling to complete.

2. The Relaxing Scribble Art Activity

Use a crayon or oil pastel to draw big looping scribbles all over your paper. Fill in some sections with color from crayons or oil pastels and then paint the rest with watercolors.

We love to do this while listening to audio books!

3. Watercolor Doodle Flowers

Use watercolor dots as the starting point for playful doodled flowers. Paint dots then add designs to cut out or create your own stickers!

4. Create the Starry Night Sky Effect with salt

Sprinkle a little salt over a still-wet watercolor painting for a beautiful starry night sky or mottled effect. The salt absorbs the water in the watercolor paint, leaving white spots in some areas and concentrated pigment in others.

5. The Watercolor Resist Technique

Use crayons or oil pastels to draw a picture (abstract or realistic – anything goes!), then paint over the drawing with watercolor paints. The waxy crayons or oil pastels will resist the water-based watercolors, creating a simple but almost magical effect.

6. Watercolor Butterfly Symmetry Prints

Create beautiful, symmetrical butterfly wings with translucent watercolor paint. Fold a piece of paper in half, open back up, and draw the body and wings of a butterfly with a crayon or oil pastel. Now use a lot of wet watercolor paint to paint one side of the butterfly. Press the other side of the paper to the wet paint, and open to reveal your symmetrical butterfly print!

7. Make Flowers with Paper Plates

To make these paper plate flowers, inspired by Pink Stripey Socks, cut a few flower shapes from paper plates in decreasing sizes and staple or glue them together in the center. Paint your flowers with watercolor paint. You can also embellish them with additional doodles and drawings with markers or chalk markers after they dry.

8. Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Shapes

Experiment with the wet-on-wet watercolor technique by using cookie cutters!

Start by setting a cookie cutter on top of your paper. Paint the area inside the cookie cutter with just water. Then dip the paintbrush into watercolor paint and add color to the wet paper inside the cookie cutter. Watch as the color spreads around the water. Dip your paint brush into a different color and repeat. Leave the cookie cutter in place and let your painted shape dry.

9. The Watercolor + Cling Wrap Technique

Cover a wet watercolor painting with gently scrunched up cling wrap and let dry overnight for an amazing geometric effect. The cling wrap forces the watercolor paint to concentrate where the plastic touches the paper creating intricate geometric designs.

10. Raised Salt Painting

For raised salt painting, a favorite kids’ art activity, draw a picture or make a squiggle design with a bottle of glue. Then cover the glue lines completely with salt and tap off the extra salt. Saturate your paint brush with watercolor paint and lightly touch to the salt-covered glue lines. Watch as the color magically travels along the salt + glue!

11. Make Faux Stained-Glass Paintings

Create a stained-glass art effect with a black glue “lead” design filled in with colorful translucent watercolors. Mix a tablespoon or so of black tempera or acrylic paint into a half-empty bottle of glue, replace the cap, and shake well. Squeeze out the black glue to draw a picture on your paper. Once it’s completely dry, paint in the sections with watercolor paint.

12. Compass Painting with Watercolors

Use a compass to paint watercolor circles of different sizes! Replace the pencil in a traditional compass with a small paintbrush (we broke our paint brush in half to make it easier to use). Then dip the brush end in paint to make lots of circles all over your paper.

So, there you have it! A dozen awesome watercolor art activities for kids of all ages! Try one or do them all!

We even created a printable guide so you can keep these ideas handy on your fridge or keep in your art space. Enter your email to have one sent directly to you for free! If you missed it, clear your cookies & refresh this page!

More Watercolor Art Ideas for Kids

• 6 Easy Watercolor Ideas Using Resist Techniques
• 11 Fun Watercolor Craft Ideas for Kids
• 7 Watercolor Techniques for Kids
• How to Paint Watercolor Flowers for Kids
• How to Paint Watercolor with Markers
• How to Make Pointillism Art with Cotton Swabs

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Updated April 2024

If you’re the owner of an art studio like me, or just an artsy mama (like so many of YOU!), I bet you get tons of sometimes awesome and sometimes wild donations of materials.  

I’ve been given hundreds of cardboard tubes, piles of lids from baby food pouches, a giant box of seashells, and countless beads, jars, spools of thread, shoeboxes, stickers, stamps, and teeny, tiny odds and ends.  

I nearly always say “YES” when asked if I take donations. I love repurposing objects, and kids adore going through my recycling bin of “usable makeables.” Some items eventually make their way into the trash, but I try to put most donations to good use in a project.

One of my favorite ways to use all the odds and ends I save is pressing them into air dry clay. Older children can create pinch pots and use the bits and bobs to embellish their designs. Younger children love the sensation of pushing the objects into small mountains of clay.

I love projects like this that work on so many levels for a variety of ages!

Mosaic Art for Kids with Air Dry Clay

MATERIALS

• Small objects such as sequins, beads, buttons, marker lids, acorn caps, plastic lids, small seashells, tiny ceramic tiles, etc.
• Air dry clay

It’s fun to have a conversation with your kids about how to use their special handmade bowl.  

What could you keep inside?

• Maybe a collection of precious treasures, such as stones or seashells?
• Or you may choose to display it alone on the mantle!

However you choose to display your child’s artwork, the process of creating something together is a wonderful way to make a memory!

More Clay Art Activities for Kids

• 15 Clay Projects for Kids
• How to Make Clay Coil Pots
• How to Make a Clay Coral Reef
• How to Make Lace Hearts from Air Dry Clay for Ornaments & Magnets
• Make a Nature Mobile for Kids with Gathered Materials + Air Dry Clay
• Clay Leaf Prints + Pendants

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