Kids love to get messy and the best way to do that is to do art. It’s fun and good for your child’s development.
Engaging your child in artistic creation is proven to increase their capacity for creativity. Another bonus is that different projects can help with your child’s hand-eye coordination and finger dexterity.
DIY Art You Can Make with Your Kids
We know that selecting the best art can be daunting for most parents so we asked the team behind Such & Such to give their best DIY art projects you can do with your kids.
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Infants – Ages 1- 2
Most people would say that there is no possible way to do an art project with a two-year-old, but they are wrong. It’s never too early to encourage your child’s creativity.
You could hand your one-year-old a crayon and watch them scribble, but my preferred tool is your child’s body slathered with paint!
Handprints
- First, you will need your chosen color of finger paint.
- Then you will need to brush, or dip, your child’s entire hand in the paint.
- After, press your child’s hand onto a piece of paper, paper plate, poster board, cardboard, or anything else you can find.
- The last step of the project is to be creative. You could turn your child’s hand into an animal, superhero, funny face, or a variety of other things. You just need an idea, some cardboard, and markers.
- Finally, clean up the mess. Finger paint is water soluble, so warm water and soap will do perfectly for any cleanup.
Footprints
- Choose a finger paint color.
- Cover your child’s foot in the chosen paint color. Do this by brushing the paint on or dipping their foot into it.
- Press their foot into your desired type of canvas.
- Create something, turn their footprint into something fun or frame it and hang it in their bedroom.
- Clean up the paint using warm soapy water.
Finger Painting
- Choose a few colors of finger paint that your child can alternate using.
- Offer your child the dish of paint to stick their fingers into or dip their fingers in it yourself.
- Set your child’s hand on a piece of paper and encourage them to paint with their fingers.
- Use warm water and soap to clean up the mess.
Toddlers – Ages 3-5
My favorite age group to work with. Toddlers can be so fun to do art with; they are starting to discover themselves and figure out what they like.
They will be more active in whichever project you choose to do. Some of my favorite projects are simple and classic.
Painted Figures and Pots
- Visit a nearby dollar store and purchase some supplies. You could buy a few little figures or some ceramic pots. Buy any water-soluble paint.
- Squeeze a little bit of each color your child chooses onto a paper plate.
- Hand your child a paintbrush with a small cup of water.
- Show your child how to rinse the brush in the water.
- Let them paint the figure/pot!
Sticker Pictures
- Gather a few sticker pages, flowers, people, animals, and vehicles will work great, and construction paper.
- Assist your child in creating a landscape out of the construction paper (use green paper for grass, blue for the sky, add a house or some trees if you’d like).
- Let your child place the stickers on the paper landscape.
Coloring
- Place crayons or markers, and paper or coloring books, on a table.
- You and your child can spend time together. All you guys need to do is sit together and color.
School – Aged Children – Ages 6 and Up
At this age your child has made up their own mind on whether, or not, they enjoy doing art. If they enjoy it, they are likely able to do more intricate projects at this point. So here are a few ideas.
Shoebox Scenes
- Find an old shoe box and collect your materials, (construction paper, fabric, string, glue, and whatever else you can think of.)
- Line the Inside of the shoebox with the construction paper or fabric of your choice. You want to use the materials to create a background for the scene you are making in the box.
- Create additional three-dimensional scenery out of cardboard and paper.
- Create any characters that you want in the scene out of cardboard and paper
- Attach the three-dimensional scenery using glue. This will hold it in place. If the scenery should move to hang it with string. Example of moving scenery could be falling leaves or snowflakes.
- Finally, place your characters. They can be attached or free standing.
Masks
- Cut paper plates into the desired shape. Don’t forget to add holes for your eyes!
- Use paint, markers, paper, feathers, and stickers to decorate the mask.
- Cut a hole on both sides of the mask to tie the string through. Cut the string so that it is the necessary length to fit around your child’s head. Tie the string through both holes.
Solar System
- Purchase foam balls in the necessary sizes to represent the size of the sun and planets. You may also want to purchase a large foam square and long wooden sticks to hold the planets in place.
- Use paint to color your foam balls appropriately or create your own imaginary solar system by decorating them in crazy colors.
- Allow for drying time.
- Poke the wooden sticks through the planet and the other end into the chosen position on the foam board. Repeat this step for each planet.
It’s important to choose a DIY art project that is appropriate for your child’s age. This will make it more enjoyable for both you and your little artist.
Remember that the project is supposed to be fun, there is no pressure for you, or your child, to create the next Mona Lisa. Make a huge mess and enjoy yourself. Your child is only going to be this young once!
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