My Number One Tip for Painting with Children

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This morning I woke up with a sense that I needed to something more focused on my two-year-old.

Sometimes because of the older boys (6 and 9) and the nature of homeschooling it can start to feel like most of what we do is tailored towards them, and I’m just trying to keep the two year old occupied and out of the way so we can “do stuff.”

Kind of sad, I know.

My mom recently visited me and brought me a huge, beautiful pad of slick, smooth finger paint paper and little pots of finger paints.

(I usually make my own homemade versions, so this was a treat.)

I set everything up on our front porch, got the kids and….

We just sat there.

Literally.

My two and four year old stared at the paints, stared at the paper and stared at me.

“Come on, dip your finger in,” I coaxed.

Nope.

They were having none of it. This totally surprised me! All my plans for this fun, sensory, messy, therapeutic painting session, bonding especially with my two year old were not working out!

We sat there for a little bit and I stared at the slick paper and the shiny paints.

I want to paint with that, I thought to myself.

And so I dipped my fingers in and started swirling, mixing, making finger prints, just painting for the sheer sensation of it – enjoying it as much as a toddler would.

Well, wouldn’t you know it? Within a few minutes the boys were diving in too.
And then it happened. The magical moment I was anticipating. The smiles, the giggles, the joy, the creativity.

I just had to dive in first, that’s all.

Instead of an experience for them, it was an experience for us.

Jude started rolling in the paint with a pencil creating some really neat textures.

When the older ones saw how much fun we were having, they couldn’t resist and had to dive in too!

So that’s my tip. Next time you want your children to paint, paint with them and enjoy it with a child-like heart.

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