Painting on Canvas is a great way to help Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Kindergartners develop creativity with art.
Do you have some little painters at home? A great way to help them improve their art and painting skills is by allowing them to paint on canvas rather than on construction paper always. Canvas painting takes a little more thought and less of a rush that even the kids would be excited to try to do their very best. Plus the painting will last longer and can be used as decorations around the home, too.
Why I keep a stash of paint at our home
Simply put, we love painting!! I keep a stash of acrylic paint for when I decide to have the kids paint something. They paint anything from a simple drawing on a sheet of construction paper to something on canvas. I also love painting and the finished work of a piece of art (whether it was made by a kid or by an adult). ART is just beautiful!!!
Here are some of our kids painting done on Canvas
This was one of our activities leading up to Valentine’s last year (which I displayed on our mantel). Aren’t they pretty? I didn’t share them last year because I couldn’t get the post together in time and then my blog kind of experienced some slower blogging days. I also took photos while they were painting but my laptop crashed and I have not yet attempted to recover the photos from the hard drive. I’ll explain the few simple steps as best as I can so you too can create similar paintings with your kids.
Heart Stamped Collage Painting by our Toddler: Our then 2 year old son used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make a few shapes on his canvas. He dipped the cookie cutter in paint, stamped it on the paper and made some other creations around it.
Handprinted Painting by our Preschooler: One of our girls dipped her hand in paint and stamped it on the canvas. She then decided to add some painting around the handprints using a paintbrush.
Ombre Painting by our Kindergartner: Our eldest daughter made a heart in the middle of her ombre painting. I call it ombre because it sort of fades in an ombre pattern from the bottom to the top.
How to Have Kids Paint on Canvas
To make these creations you will need:
- Canvas (we used 8×10)
- Paints in similar colors – we used red, a few different shades of pink, and some purple (we also used some white)
- Paint palette plate or paper plates
- Paintbrushes
- Dry rags
- Plastic tablecloth
What to do:
- The kids can make whatever creations they’d like or you can draw a picture on the canvas and have them paint it.
- Add glitter if desired. Do this while the paint is still wet.
- Let art dry, then display in your home for you and the kids to admire. Why not?
Ombre Painting
- Beginning at the bottom of the canvas, start by applying the darkest shade of paint (about a 1/2 inch from bottom to top and all the way across)
- Next, apply the second lighter shade in the same order as the first
- Keep applying with lighter and lighter shades until the entire canvas is painted from bottom to top
- Note: If a color is too dark, use a little bit of water to thin it out or to make it lighter
Also note that if you want to draw a heart or another picture on the canvas, draw the outline of it first before beginning to paint. Paint the rest of the canvas around the picture, then go back and paint the picture when done.
The kids had so much fun painting on canvas and improving their art and painting skills by taking their time to paint. All of their creations turned out fabulous! And because we love them so much, I bought some more canvas for painting.
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Do you have little ones who love to paint? How do you help them develop this creativity?
Wow… This is really cute. I liked this DIY canvas painting activity for toddlers.
Thank you so much!!! Painting is one of our favorite activities – despite all the messes that come with it:)
What a clever simple idea! Love this post! Thanks for sharing such a nice post with us!
My kids love painting with plastic – this is a great variation! Thanks!