Painted Gourd Birdhouse

Gourds and their great shapes and sizes make great homes for little birds.  Lowe's paints them to add even more color for these homes. 

Good for ages 2 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/lawn-and-garden/katies-krops-diy-birdhouse-gourds/article

Water Color and Crayon Notebooks

Water color paints and crayons harmonize in these notebook covers made by pink stripey socks.  Makes a good gift the preschool set can give.

Good for ages 3 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2014/05/watercolor-and-crayon-resist-notebooks.html

Crystalized Watercolor Paintings

Epsom salt turns watercolor painting to a new level crystallizing the paint.  Fun at home with kids shares all of the details.

Good for ages 3 and up.

Get the instructions here:

http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2014/01/homemade-paint-recipe-crystallizing.html

Rainy Day Painting

Rain painting gives a whole new meaning to water colors.  Fun things to do with ur kids suggests simply placing dots of paint onto paper and leave outside in the rain to watch how the rain washes the colors onto the paper.

Good for ages 2 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://funthingstodowithurkidz.blogspot.com/2013/10/rain-storm-pictures.html

Leaf Painting

As the leaves are now fresh on the trees take a walk with the kids to find some unique and different shapes and sizes.  Bla bla kids then paints the leaves.  She uses Magnolias because they're hearty.  One experiment for kids is to see which leaves hold up to the paint and which disintegrate and dry up over time.

Good for ages 2 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.blablakids.blogspot.com/2012/10/leaf-it-to-kristen.html

The art room plant uses polka dots in their leaf paintings.

Get the instructions here:
http://theartroomplant.blogspot.com/2011/10/painting-leaves-on-autumn-days.html 

 Quince and quire paints her leaves with a metallic marker adding swirls along the veins. 

Get the instructions here:
http://quinceandquire.typepad.com/quince_and_quire/2009/09/inspired-by-geninne.html 

Bicocacolors paints on pictures.

Get the instructions here:
http://bicocacolors.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/bicocacolors-shop.html 

Creative in chicago uses green leaves.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.creativeinchicago.com/2015/09/decorated-leaves.html

Spray Painting

Give kids a new way to paint with spray bottles and paint.  Instructables puts the canvas in a plastic pool to make it a little less messy.

Good for ages 2 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Outdoor-Kids-Activity-Spray-Bottle-Painting/

Wax Paper Resist Painting

Crumpled waxed paper creates flower like patterns that are enhanced even more when painted.  Housing a forest then paints with water colors to make the patterns show even more.

Good for ages 1 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.housingaforest.com/wax-paper-resist/

Squishy Paint Bags

Ziploc bags and paint turn into a perfect toddler craft and sensory play.

A day in the life of the kuesters uses two primary colors and lets the kids mix them together to learn about color creations.

Good for ages 1 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://adayinthelifeofthekuesters.blogspot.com/2012/10/toddler-activity-sensory-paint-bags.html

Learning at his feet uses several bags of just one color for sensory play.

Get the instructions here:
http://learningathisfeet.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-toddler-diaries-paint-bags.html

Cuties by zootys combines all of the colors into one bag and lets the kids discover the classic yucky brown.

Get the instructions here:
http://cutiesbyzootys.com.au/monday-make-it-squishy-paint-bag/

Sweet happy life put the bags in the window so the kids can see the sun shine through.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.sweethappylife.com/2012/activities/toddler-games-activities/toddler-indoor-activities/sunny-window-paint-play/

Snow Painting

Really quite lucky has a colorful idea for kids to have some fun in the snow.  She mixes food coloring and water and fills up spray bottle for the kids to get artistic. Another good idea is to use this for spelling exercise and have the kids write the week's words out in the snow.

Good for ages 2 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://reallyquitelucky.blogspot.com/2010/01/kid-activity-for-snow-days.html

Salt Painting

Juggling with kids shares a nifty painting activity.  Kids start by making shapes with glue, next sprinkle with salt, then have the kids drop colored water onto the salt.  They'll be amazed at how the salt absorbs the water and travels through the shape.

Good for ages 4 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.jugglingwithkids.com/2012/05/salt-painting.html

Fun at home with kids makes salt sculptures - just requires mixing salt and water and placing into a mold.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2014/04/painted-salt-sculptures.html

Blissfully domestic just leaves the salt unpainted to make it look like snow.

Get the instructions here:
http://blissfullydomestic.com/life-bliss/fun-crafts-for-kids-salt-prints/65507/

Emma owl uses lots of salt.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.emmaowl.com/salt-painting/

One inch world adds salt to liquid watercolors for a very shiny effect.

Get the instructions here:
http://oneinchworld.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/sparkly-watercolor-crystals/

Pink and green mama uses lots of colors.

Get the instructions here:
http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2011/09/salt-and-glue-watercolor-paintings.html

Smile monsters makes whales from foam board cut outs and shakes on the colored salt.

Get the instructions here:
http://smilemonsters.blogspot.com/2011/07/salt-art.html

Explosive Sidewalk Chalk

Growing a jeweled rose takes her sidewalk chalk even further combining the ingredients with vinegar and baking soda and placing into a zipped bag to create eruptive art. 

Good for ages 4 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/05/play-recipe-sidewalk-chalk.html

Water Painting

What's more fun than painting?  Water and painting.  Have the kids draw with markers or stampers onto paper towels or napkins and then give them water droppers to add water and see the colors bleed.  It's a good opportunity to see colors blend and combine and learn about primary and secondary colors too.

Melted Crayon Painting

Buzz feed lists a lot of ways to use crayons and a hair dryer for a really neat effect but the one that's most different is using up all of those little crayon pieces to create something new.  Kids will have as much fun smashing up the crayons and designing them on the page as they will melting them. 

Good for ages 5 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/creative-ways-to-create-melted-crayon-art

Growing a jeweled rose uses crayon shavings as well, but instead of a hair dryer, she leaves her canvas out in the sun and answers the question what happens when crayons are left out in the sun?

Get the instructions here:
http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/08/paint-and-play-crayon-art.html

Water Balloon Painting

Mirth market fills water balloons with paint, attaches to a board and shoots darts at them for a really neat effect.  You could also throw the balloons at the board for more of a firework look.

Good for ages 10 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://mirthmarket.blogspot.com/2012/06/water-balloon-dart-painting.html?m=1

Growing a jeweled rose has the hid throw the balloons for a less controlled effect.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/05/paint-play.html 

Let's lasso the moon fills the balloons with water, rolls them in paint and then rolls them onto the paper.

Get the instructions here:
 http://letslassothemoon.com/2014/06/26/water-balloon-painting-outdoor-summer-art-activity/

Hello wonderful uses darts as well, but places her balloons in the center.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/balloon-dart-painting-with-kids

Bubble Painting

Disney's family fun has instructions for how kids can make colored soap bubble prints using bubble solution, paint, and straws.  They'll have lots of fun blowing the bubbles up really high and get to keep the experience by pressing down a piece of paper on the bubbles.

Good for ages 5 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/soap-bubble-prints-667851/

Hello wonderful uses lots of colors and less bubbles.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/diy-abstract-bubble-painting-with-kids

 
Fireflies and mudpies make prints by pressing paper onto the soap bubbles.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.firefliesandmudpies.com/2015/06/02/soap-foam-printing/

Plastic Egg Painting

Did you know that many plastic Easter eggs have holes in them at the top?  One great painting activity involving plastic eggs as vessels.  Fill the eggs with paint. Kids can either shake the paint out of the eggs or crack them open to release the paint. It's a fun activity for Easter and good for younger kids too.