Hand and foot painting:
- Cover a large area of the floor with newspaper.
- Use masking tape to attach plain paper to the newspaper.
- Mix some paint in a container and let your child paint his/her hand with the paintbrush.
- Let your child press his/her hand to the paper.
- Continue this process until you have a series of handprints on the paper.
- When finished, let your child washes his/hands in a bowl of water and dries thoroughly.
- Repeat the process using different colour paint.
- You can use the same technique to make prints with your feet.
Leaf printing:
- Collect some leaves from the garden.
- Cover your work surface with newspaper and place a pain paper on top.
- Pour some paint in a container.
- Let your child select a leave and paint one side.
- Let your child carefully place the painted side of the leave onto the paper and press down firmly ensuring pressure is applied to the whole surface.
- Remove the leave and repeat the process until the desired pattern has been achieved.
Simple stencilling using doilies:
- Cover the work surface with newspaper.
- Place a paper doily over the plain paper and tape it down with masking tape.
- Let your child hold the paintbrush vertically and stamp the paint onto the paper with an up and down movement.
- Remove the doily, taking care not to smudge the paint.
- Allow to dry.
Ripped newspaper stencil:
- Cover the work surface with newspaper.
- Let your child tear a newspaper into lengthwise strips. Ensure the edges are not too straight by letting your child wiggle as s/he rips the paper.
- Let your child place the newspaper pieces across the printing paper, leaving gaps between the pieces.
- Hold the pieces in place by taping the ends to the newspaper surround.
- Pour some paint into a saucer.
- Let your child dip the brush into the paint, removing any excess on some of the newspaper.
- Let your child dab colour onto the paper between the rows of torn newspaper ensuring all the paper is covered.
- Remove the newspaper strips to reveal the pattern.
Potato printing:
- Wash a potato and cut in half.
- Draw a simple shape on the flat half of the potato with a felt pen.
- Using a craft or sharp kitchen knife, cut away the potato surrounding the shape.
- Pour some paint into a saucer.
- Let your child coat the shape with paint using a brush.
- Show your child how to press down onto the paper with the potato.
Wax resist painting:
- Cover your work surface with newspaper.
- Place plain paper on the newspaper and have your child draw a pattern/scribble/picture on it with white wax crayons or a white wax candle.
- Mix some paint and have your child cover the whole paper with the paint.
- Allow to dry.
String and fibre painting:
- Cover your work surface with newspaper.
- Mix different coloured paint and pour it into shallow containers.
- Tie a piece of string to a clothes peg (one for each colour paint).
- Show your child how to dip the string into the paint.
- Different effects are achieved by dragging, flicking and pulling it across the paper.
Sponge painting:
- Cover your work surface with newspaper.
- Mix different coloured paint and pour it into containers.
- Let your child dip a sponge into the paint and use it to dab or brush, making pictures and patterns.
Colourful blob paintings:
- Help your child fold his/her paper in two.
- Show them how to put blobs of paint on one side of the paper.
- Fold the paper over and press down hard.
- Open it up and let it dry.
Colour mixing:
- Help your child fill clear glass/plastic containers half full of water.
- Help your child to add red, yellow and blue paint to three of the containers.
- Let him/her use plastic eye droppers to add drops of colour to the jars with plain water to make lots of new colours.
- S/he can also drop drops of paint on a piece of paper, letting the drops mix to make secondary colours.
Bubble pictures:
- Fill a plastic container with water, adding some powder paint and a little detergent.
- Place a drinking straw into the container and let your child blow into the straw until the container is almost overflowing with bubbles.
- Show your child how to press the paper on top of the container.
- When you take it off there will be beautiful bubble prints on it.
Blow paintings:
- Cover your work surface with newspaper.
- Mix some paint and place it into a container.
- Show your child how to trap some paint in a straw by putting it in the mixture, placing a finger over the top of the straw and then moving the straw to the paper.
- Let your child blow gently on the straw. The paint will spread over the paper in spider-like formations.
- As they use different colours, new colours will form.
Sand paintings:
- Put some fine sand into containers and add some paint to make different coloured sand.
- Let your child use a glue stick to “draw” a picture on paper.
- Let your child sprinkle the sand over his/her glue picture.
Splatter paintings:
- Spread out the paper on the grass outside.
- Show your child how to dip his/her brush in the paint and flick the brush with his/her fingers so that the paint flies onto the paper.
Spray paintings:
- Mix powder paint with water in spray bottles.
- Peg up some unprinted newspaper outside.
- Show your child how to spray the paint with short, fine bursts and encourage him/her to use lots of different colours to see how the paint mix and new colours are made.
Fingerprint critters:
- Show your child how to make fingerprints by pressing his/her index finger into the paint and then carefully placing it on the paper.
- Let your child add detail to his/her fingerprints, e.g. birds, flowers, people, bugs, monsters or anything else s/he can think of.
Body cut-outs:
- Let your child lie on a large sheet of paper to have his/her body drawn by you.
- Let your child cut out the outline of his/her body.
- Let your child paint his/her body.