Bright murals in a playroom inspire creativity and happiness.
Playrooms are places where kids should feel excited. They shouldn't look like the outside world where things are often ordinary and full of rules and routine. Playrooms should be places of wonder where kids are curious and find surprises around every corner. One way to create a world where kids will marvel at their surroundings is to paint a life-size mural on the wall of the playroom. These days murals are created easily with the aid of stencils and projectors.
Abstract
Create a vast mural that is full of activity yet cohesive using a series of abstract shapes. Pick six to eight exciting shapes. Examples of abstract shapes for a playroom mural include whirligigs, spirals and zigzags. You can create shapes inspired by things in the world, such as stars, clouds, dogs, ladders or flowers. Then come up with a bright color palette. Choose just a few colors and stick with them so the final mural appears unified. Paint the shapes on the wall in all kinds of different ways. They can be different sizes, colors and facing various directions. Be spontaneous but continue to stand back to view your composition. Allow some shapes to overlap or connect so that in the end they look interrelated.
Cartoon Character Convention
Depict an eclectic mix of cartoon characters coming together in one space, just like the painter Rafael did with philosophers in his famous painting "School of Athens." Bring together classic cartoon characters, such as Snow White and Mickey Mouse, with contemporary personalities such as Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer. Begin by painting a simple, light-colored background environment where the characters can hang out together. The environment can be a landscape or an interior space. Light colors are necessary so characters can be easily painted on top without "bleed-through" of the background colors. After the background painting dries, use a projector to project, place, trace and copy the characters into the setting.
Let the Kids Do It
Pablo Picasso once said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is remain a child once he grows up." Kid drawings are always full of imagination and freedom, as they don't sit around and worry about their artistic abilities. Kids also like painting on walls and hardly ever get the chance. Start with a white wall--a blank canvas. Bring kids from the community in for a day of painting and get a few parents to help supervise. Supply them with craft paints, brushes and paper plate palettes, and let them go to town. Set up some safe ladders, scaffolding or step stools so that some kids can help paint higher parts of the wall.
