Ten Reasons to Let Your Kids Paint!

Ten Reasons to Let Your Kids Paint!

If your kids are nagging you to get out the paints and you are wondering if you can really be bothered… here are a few reasons why it’s totally worth it!

  1. Painting helps develop eye-hand co-ordination.
  2. Painting is a great way to develop and refine small muscle movement and control – the skills needed for writing!
  3. Painting uses both the left, analytical and logical, side of the brain and the right, emotional and creative, side of the brain. Being able to use and integrate both sides of the brain is important for complex thinking and problem solving.
  4. Painting lets us practice creative thinking, decision making and problem solving in a non-threatening environment.
  5. Painting provides lots of opportunities to learn – about colours, shapes, representing ideas, making marks, colour mixing, cause and effect, experimenting…
  6. Painting encourages open-ended creativity. There is no one right way to paint and we are free to express our ideas and creativity any way we like.
  7. Painting can be calming, and a way of relieving stress or working through difficult situations.
  8. Painting can be a social activity or done on your own, depending on your mood and needs.
  9. Painting can buy parents a chunk of quiet. Older kids can paint independently while you do other things, little kids will need some supervision but will at least stop nagging you… hopefully!
  10. Painting is fun!

Ten Reasons to Let Your Kids Paint!

Our favourite, quick, easy, low mess way to paint is to use water colours and/or water soluble crayons/pastels, especially when everyone (aged 3-10 years) is home in the holidays and working together.

If you’d like a few more painting ideas you can find ten our favourite, easy, painting activities listed here.

Do you let your kids paint often? What is your favourite painting activity?

 

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    8 Comments

    1. Great post! As an art teacher and now a homeschooler I can’t advocate painting enough. And I agree that watercolors and little brushes are the best: easy to make lots of marks, lots of color, and easy clean up. I love to let them illustrate their favorite stories or recent field trips.

    2. Hi! I’m an art teacher at Vicenza Elementary School and I simply love this article! It amazes me how many of my students don’t have access to paint at home because their parents say that it’s “too messy.” I’m wondering if there’s any chance you’d be willing to let me reprint your article (I would give you full credit as author of course) in our school weekly newsletter. It’s not a fancy newsletter – just our weekly bulletin, but I like to always throw some art news or ideas for parents to do at home. I usually include a note at some point in the year that says similar things, but I think you have said it perfectly. Would you allow me to reprint it?

      1. Glad you liked the post Nicole :)
        You may print an excerpt of the article in you newsletter with a link back but I do not allow my work to be reprinted in it’s entirety. Thanks :)

    3. Hello! I love the article I would like to use some of the points in a parent newsletter! I will give picklebums.com credit!

    4. This was so encouraging to read. My kiddos currently ask to paint daily (even multiple times a day!!). It is a hassle, as I have to pretty much do all the cleanup myself (they are 2 & almost 5), but it truly is so worth it! They get so much joy from creating. And I see their abilities improve constantly. And as you said, it opens up wonderful conversations and even leads to some great imaginative play. I join in when I can, and I do find it so relaxing!

      Thanks again. I hope some hesitant parents will see the value in getting a bit messy!

    5. Well said!

      Esp Loved #3 … Hadn’t thought of it that way! Using BOTH left and right brain!

      We loo..ove paints and use some in almost every activity!

    6. I’m so glad I came across this article tonight. In fact I just purchased some paint for my two year old and he enjoyed every drop of paint I poured for him ??