Easy Art Ideas
Do you need some easy art ideas to try with your kids?
This list of super fun, super easy art ideas is perfect for kids of all ages!
In case you haven’t noticed, we do quite a few art activities at The Pickle Farm.
I love doing arty things as much as my kids do, which is probably the biggest reason why we do so much of it, but I also believe that art for kids should be easy!
I am busy enough, without throwing elaborate, time consuming, and expensive art projects into the mix. There is nothing that puts me off more, than a project that takes hours to set up, and even longer to clean up, or one that needs fancy equipment that I have to go out and buy. There is a time and place for art and craft projects that have fancy end products (though mine never look like the ones in the picture!), but in general, I think doing art with your kids should be simple, fun and doable!
Here are are few of the fun and easy art ideas we’ve shared this year…
All of these ideas are great process art activities that are sure to encourage creativity in your kids!
Which one will you try?
It may not be terribly creative, however great for my 2 year old. Rolling a ball with paint across paper – fun and instant results. Also creating our own snow globe – have loved doing that this year as it is quick but looks good and something to treause for future years.
The other day the kids collected up some fallen bark and sticks from around the garden. Sitting outside, they used one piece of bark to squirt the paint on, and then they dipped a stick into the paint and started painting the other pieces of bark. Coloured dots, lines, kangaroos, lizards and even Uluru were portrayed. It was a fantastic, quick, easy and mess free activity as there was no clearing up of pots or brushes at the end and all items(apart from the paint) were free. We now have some fantastic Aboriginal-inspired bark paintings ready to hang around the house, and it’s definitely an activity we’ll do again.
Our favourite simple art activity is doodling a story away with whatever is around. The micador colourfun markers are legendary for coverong large and small areas of our stories with the most vibrant colours. Too awesome- can’t get enough of the stuff.
Laying a piece of paper in the base of a tray with sides, putting globs of paint on it and rolling marbles around
My favourite with my three kids is drawing and erasing
1-draw with sidewalk chalk, our fave if around our feet and bodies and colouring in.
2-give children a bucket with water and a paintbrush and erase their drawings.
The love seeing the colours in the water
I’m not an Australian resident so I can’t enter :( but we love to make bake cotton ball designs. All you do is mix flour and water and add food coloring or liquid water paint together and then dip cotton balls in them then bake at 350 for an hour.
My girls are older now but they still love to craft. They love to spend time decorating little canvas with paint, paper and little treasures. They then display them in their rooms.
The favourite here has to be watercolours. It’s paint! What’s not to love! Change up what you’re painting on and the fun is endless. But unlike pots of paint it can’t spill, blob or drip too far, it wipes up very easily, it’s compact and super easy to store and can be easily packed and taken anywhere for hours of fun….just add water!
Art in our house needs to be ‘real easy’. The boys are armed with glue sticks, their own art books and a pile of random bits n pieces to work with. The bits n pieces are always ready to go; ribbons, gems, coloured and patterned paper shapes etc, it is mostly recycled from gift wrapping and cards (that we struggle to throw away!) and then we use our art creations to wrap presents and make cards for our family and friends. This is not only easy but it can also keep my boys occupied long enough for me to make dinner, or feed their baby brother. Good times :-)
Roller painting using bubble wrap around a roller and bright paints. Hand print pictures also using bright paints and markers
Chalk! Anything with chalk is awesome, but just heading outside to the pavement is enough to keep the kids busy and happy for ages :)
My easy art is to grab a roll of brown craft paper, put splodges of paint on some plates and watch my daughter get her hands colorful. She is three and a half and I think she likes to feel the texture of the paint, and you cover a big bit of the paper in one go. She also loves to paint herself ie her face with her colorful hands.
We love collecting different leaves, gumnuts, bark and using them as stamps with paint.
My 2 year old daughter and I play with liquid chalk on our big glass sliding doors. She often likes to stand outside and then I trace around her (and often any number of her favourite toys) and then she goes back inside and decorates them. We also stick pictures and words on the outside of the glass and then she practices tracing them and colouring them in. Hours of awesome fun and the chalk cleans off the glass super easily (and clothes and skin and my tiled floor too!!! )
Shower or bath painting! Kids can go crazy creating and then you just fill the bath or turn on the shower and wash all the mess away
Bubble wrap is not only good for little fingers to pop, but also makes an effective and simple art tool! I recently supported a group of toddlers to create a beautiful seascape at a Mummy ‘n Me meeting. I set up the table with a large sheet of butchers paper, a selection of bright washable poster paints and glue mixed together in shallow containers and small pieces of bubble wrap ready for stamping and dipping. I also added some fish shaped paper cut outs for glueing. This worked on so many levels as it provided the full sensory experience for little artists! The squishy,lumpy texture of the bubble wrap mixed in the slippery paint created quick and effective prints on the paper for the children, while the glue premixed in the paint made it easy for the little ones to stick on the paper sea-life! So much fun and little effort for a stunning result!
Every year we make reindeer heads from the kids hand and foot prints we cut them out use the foot for the body and the 2 hands for antlers we all enjoy doing and see how much they have grown
My 3 year old loves to do painting races. we roll out the butchers paper, paint a block on the end and then let the kids race up the paper leaving their footprints behind. It has been awesome to see how their feet have grown each year. But always use waterproof paint or you will be left with cute little footprints on the driveway
I love making wrapping paper with my little one. We get packing paper from a moving company and paint, stencil or use stickers to create personalised wrapping paper. Its always a huge hit, especially with grandparents as you include a photo of them painting it in the card
Painting hands and feet and printing onto paper means lots of fun and giggles from my children. With Christmas around the corner I have managed to create some awesome things with minimal cost using my children’s hand and feet prints – hand print wreaths, hand print trees, reindeer feet head and hand antlers onto tote bags. It is so much fun and a great keepsake for years to come.