Get kids involved in art early to unleash their creativity.
A blank canvas is an endless source of possibility to kids, who are willing to make the process as enjoyable as the finished product. Making a mess, being creative; what more could a kid ask for in an afternoon activity? Art on canvas looks its best when it's in a multitude of layers, with little to no canvas showing from underneath. Consider making this an ongoing project until your child has covered the entire piece.
Squirt Gun Art
Your little Jackson Pollock can fill up a squirt gun with liquid tempera paints and 3/4 of a cup of water to help dilute it. Adjust the nozzle if possible, so he has different widths of paint streams, or use a variety of squirt and spray guns to get different effects. Lines, dots and squiggles will give the painting depth and personality.
Nature Collage
Take your kid on a scavenger hunt to find environmental treasures, such as leaves and sticks. Once she has a pile, let her paint a canvas, then use the wet paint to hold items like glue. Your child can paint over the objects so that only an outline remains. Larger items, like pine cones, will have to be stripped and put on in pieces so they will stick better. Kids can even throw handfuls of sand over the wet paint to add texture.
Body Art
Let your child use his entire body to cover a piece of canvas. Place the canvas on the ground, and empty tubes of paint in random piles on it. Let your child roll or slide on the canvas until he has spread the paint over the entire surface area. After it dries, and while the canvas is still on the ground, have your kid step on a paper plate filled with more wet paint and walk over the canvas, so that you have a path of footsteps of one or more children. He can further embellish the top layer with handprints. You'll have an art piece to keep for years to come.
