Saturday, December 26, 2009

Art So Easy, A Toddler Can Do It

We had so much going on during Christmas, that I thought the girls could use a little break from all the chaos today. Clara, in particular, seemed to be a bit over-whelmed with it all. So when Emily was off playing with all her lovely new toys, Clara and I snuck in a quick painting project. It was the perfect way to calm her (and me) down.

This snowflake painting was done using a similar technique to our stunning Winter tree paintings, only this one was even easier. It was so easy, in fact, that Clara did it with great results!


To make your own snowflake painting, you will need: light blue, dark blue, and purple paint, masking tape, and canvas board (very inexpensive).

First, make an "X" in the middle of the canvas board with masking tape.


Next, add another line of masking tape bi-secting the "X" as shown.


Add a few bits of masking tape on each end of the snowflake.


Invite your child over to PAINT!!! Extra bonus points for painting in your pajamas.


Encourage your child to cover the entire canvas board with paint.


Lots and lots of paint!


Now, allow the paint to dry completely.


When the paint is completely dry, gently peel off the masking tape.


Use a black marker to outline your beautiful snowflake.


Ta-da!


Display proudly in your home!

24 comments:

Mark said...

Dear Valerie,

I'm surprised you didn't post the picture of Clara crying when you took her paint brush away, when it was time to switch colors!

Love,
Mark

Bran said...

I LOVE it! Painting always relaxes me and my kids too!

Unknown said...

I love this idea! We are gonna SO try it out when we get back from all our holiday travels...

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

I love it - it turned out so very pretty. we are definitely going to try it here too.

Val in the Rose Garden said...

Amazing as always. That is beautiful. I bet LOgan would just love it!

Love Val

Anna said...

What a great project! M and L would love this. Do you have to use canvas do you think or would heavy paper work just as well?

Lynn said...

So pretty! I can never get my 2 year old to cover a piece of paper. He just dabs a few spots and then says "all done" and wants to get another color or play with taking caps on and off or whatever. He may dab 2 or 3 different colors on, but then I have to move on to something else or cheat and finish it myself. But hey, Mommy needs a little calming down with painting too, so that's OK.

Christy Killoran said...

We will definitely try this one.

Sherry said...

Thats a great project! Turned out real well!

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

@ Mark -- I'm thinking you should consider writing a "behind the scenes" guest post sometime. I'm sure you have plenty of good material!

@ Ivy -- Yes, heavy paper works well. We used watercolor paper for the Winter tree paintings and it worked. Just be sure to wait until the paint is completely dry before peeling off the masking tape. Have fun!!

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

@ Infant Bibliophile -- Sounds like your son is quite the minimalist! Emily was very much the same way until she started watching me paint. If you paint along side him, he might paint for awhile longer..? Or just finish it up for him.... I'll never tell! ;-)

Katie said...

Oh that is so fun and came our really lovely! I will have to do one with ER for sure. She just loves to paint and paint and it gets hard to keep coming up with ways to turn it into something. Hope you had a lovely holiday!

Deborah Stewart said...

That turned out gorgeous! I will have to share this with my teachers!

Deborah Stewart said...

That turned out gorgeous! I will have to share this with my teachers!

Nicole said...

Another beautiful piece of art! And what a fun project - the only question my sad little mind has is where might I find canvas board? Inexpensively, of course!

Thanks for sharing, we'll be doing this soon!

maryanne said...

Very pretty - great work, Clara!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

That is really a cute idea. She did a great job painting.

Happy New Year friend.

Ticia said...

Such a nice simple idea, I've been wanting to try something like this.

MamaFeelgood said...

Oh that is lovely

Denise said...

Easy and beautiful! We'll do this project.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely project. I love the way your ideas are things that I can picture my kids actually doing! This one is definitely on my list of things to do over the holidays.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Wow, that is so pretty! Thanks so much for another fun and beautiful project. I'll be linking.

The Domestic Contessa said...

Another great idea - thanks for sharing! I'm thinking that this would be a fun way to decorate some Christmas thank you cards...

Success on ebay selling now said...

That so amazing how nice art.. those child really very smart and expert .

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