Painting with Water Beads

My two kiddos love to play with water beads.  I'm not a big fan because it seems like I chase those little beads around the house the whole time they are playing with them.  They are quite bouncy.....

So one afternoon I decided we would try to paint with them instead of just pouring, scooping, etc.  

And it turned out super fun.

It's kinda like marble painting, but better because the water beads bounce all around the paper.  They seem to move a little easier when covered in paint than the marbles do.

Anna really enjoyed it....and Drew enjoyed making a mess, so it was a win-win for us!!

You don't need much paint at all....just a few squirts.  The water from the beads makes the paint the perfect consistency.

I put paper in these shallow plastic containers and they were great for little hands to hold.

See....Drew enjoys just squishing the water beads and making a mess.

It was fun....and a new way to enjoy water beads!!

Watercolor Resist & Reading: Heart Edition

We have been working on reading some simple words recently so this little watercolor resist activity was a lot of fun for my little lady!!  

Super simple, super easy.

And we're still loving hearts at our house...just fyi!!

I started by cutting out some hearts from cardstock and then wrote some words, names, numbers and phrases on the cardstock with a white crayon.

Then I gave her the hearts and water colors and told her to find the hidden word/message.

I did encourage to try to use one color per heart because it makes it much easier to see the letters and word.

Fun, fast, easy and educational!  My kind of activity!

Watercolors and Q-tip Painting

This is another simple and easy watercolor activity.  Instead of using brushes, we used q-tips.  Sometimes it's fun to change up the tools you use, you know!!

Anna liked making different colored dots on her paper...

And then experimented with trying to draw and write with the q-tips.

Simple..

but fun and different!

Since my daughter is only 3, I just let her experiment with the paint and q-tips.  If you have an older child feel free to encourage them to make a picture or design with the dots.  Grab some extra q-tips...you'll want to join in the fun!!

Color Matching Watercolor Activity

Watercolor paints are a favorite at our house.  The watercolor name activity is a regular in our craft rotation!!  Anna really enjoys painting with the watercolors and it's so neat to see how controlled with the paint brush she has gotten.

I put this little color matching and painting activity together for her to help develop her skills of staying in the line.  The brushes that come with the watercolor set are a little large, so it's harder to stay in the line with the small circles.  Not to mention that the water itself sometimes runs.   Regardless,  it was a fun little activity and is a keeper to us!!

Supplies needed:

markers

watercolor paint set

watercolor paper

Start by drawing various shapes and various colored circles on your watercolor paper.

Then invite your little one over for some painting fun.  Encourage them to match the color of the circle with the correct colored paint.  Also encourage them to try to stay in the line, but don't make a big fuss about it if they don't.  Having fun is much more important!!

Love the circles!!

Watercolor Resist Paintings

Anna and I had fun doing some watercolor resist paintings the other day!  

I started out by drawing and writing some different things on pieces of white paper with a white crayon.  Be sure to press down hard enough so the crayon will be on the paper.

Then I handed Anna our watercolors and some water and told her to find the secret messages and pictures!

She loves trying to figure out what was on each page!

Here are our "secret" pictures.

So easy, but fun!

It could be great for learning your name, sight words or just for fun!

Finger Painting on a Canvas

Finger painting on a canvas turned out to way more fun than I had expected!!

We are still down to just a few fun art and craft supplies in our house since most everything is packed.  I just kinda threw this together to give Anna something to do for the afternoon.

All you need is:

finger paint

canvas (You can get these on sale at the craft store all the time.  I got four for $10).

I set out several colors of finger paint and one of the noodle pieces from our "fun with a pool noodle" activity.  

She's not a big fan of getting her hands all messy so she used the pool noodle to paint (or smear) all over the canvas.

Then she just had fun doodling, drawing, writing....

(her self portrait!)

And we made hearts together...

And she practiced writing her name!

The best thing about finger paints and a canvas???  The paints wash right off the canvas.  I usually just spray mine down with our garden hose, let it dry overnight and then it's ready to go again.  Or you could always keep the fabulous artwork and hang it up somewhere if you'd like!!

Happy painting!

Fun with a Pool Noodle

Packing with two kids around has been just plain crazy.  And once all our "fun" stuff was packed I was left standing in my kitchen wondering how I was going to entertain my two for the rest of the week.  

So I went through our "goodwill" pile and found some things that worked out just fine!!

A pool noodle, spoons and paint!  Who would have thought a pool noodle could have provided a few hours of entertainment.

I took out a knife and cut the pool noodle into small pieces.  Then I handed them over to my son.  He enjoyed stacking them, knocking them over and then eventually throwing them....such a boy!

Once he seemed a little bored, I took out some spoons and showed him how to stick the ends of the spoons in the holes of the noodle.

He loved this and spent quite a while putting them through each hole.

For my daughter, Anna, I took out our paints and some bowls and let her do "noodle prints". 

They both enjoyed these little activities and we managed to get one more day of packing under our belts!!

Bubble Wrap Painting and Prints

Bubble wrap all by itself provides loads of entertainment.   Add paint you and you have a whole new activity!

I set this activity out for my two kids and they both really enjoyed playing with the paints and bubble wrap!

Little Man enjoyed popping the little bubbles the most, I think.

Anna painted her bubble wrap all different colors...

And then we pressed a piece of card stock on top of the bubble wrap to make a cool print.

An easy painting activity for almost any day!!

Making Olympic Rings

We are still loving, loving, loving the Olympics!!

Making Olympic rings is a fun little craft to do in celebration of the Olympics!  So easy, so simple!

Supplies needed:

Paint (red, blue, yellow, green, black)

Paper

Paper towel or toilet paper roll

For my little man, I just gave him a little cup of paint and let him stamp his paper with the paper towel roll.

For Anna (age 3 1/2), we talked about the Olympic rings and how they symbolize the Olympics.  She called out the colors used and helped me pick them out.  Initially she just wanted to stamp the paper, which was fine.  Together we made the five Olympic rings on the bottom of the paper.

Anna's 

Drew's

Love them both!