PAINTING FUN ALL OVER THE PLACE

Painting is creative and just plain fun.

One of the many upsides of having children is rediscovering all those creative things again, like painting. You remember how much fun it is to play with colour and paints. So sit down with your toddler and have some fun.

Here are some ideas for home artists:

1. Fruit and vegetable prints – Cut up a variety of fruit and vegetables. Pour small amounts of paint onto ice-cream lids, or saucers. Apples, oranges and potatoes all work well. Painting the fruit before stamping gives a tidier effect, but two-year-olds would probably rather just dip the vegetables in the paint. Remember to have a bowl of water on hand!
2. Painting on wet paper – make an underwater scene. Wetting the paper before painting gives the paint a floaty, runny quality. This works best when painting on a flat surface.
3. Painting on different surfaces. Try painting on textured wallpaper samples, or on fabric. Add glitter to yellow paint and paint rocks to make gold nuggets. Paint tinfoil or paper plates.
4. Paint a box. If you have a large cardboard box, place it outside and let your child cover it with paint. Great for sunny days or for groups of children of up to four – each child can take a side!
5. Painting with marbles. Drop a marble in a saucer of paint. Using a spoon, pick it up and drop it into a tray that has been lined with a piece of paper. Roll it around the tray to make a trail of paint. Repeat until you have a good pattern on the paper.
6. Painting with cars. Dip the wheels in paint and roll them around the paper to make tracks. Use different colours This can make nice wrapping paper.
7. Try a feather Instead of using brushes, try painting with other objects. Cotton buds give children the chance to make small and more detailed paintings. Sticks or feathers can be good natural alternatives and sponges help cover a large space quickly. Try a variety of tools on one painting to create texture and interest.