Monochromatic painted portrait with collage pieces
Paint provides a versatile media for kid crafts. Allow them to experiment with multiple methods of application and paint mixtures for fun and educational paint crafts. Give kids brushes, paint and a variety of papers, along with a few ideas for mixing and application, to provide them with all they need for fun paint craft activities. Use painting as the end craft result or as the beginning of preparations for a larger, more involved project such as a collage or sculpture.
Traditional Application
Using just a traditional paintbrush and paint, kids can create many interesting projects. Have kids re-create a well-known masterpiece as a paint craft with any type of paint available. This exposes them to quality, historical artworks, and as they re-create it, allows them to study brushstrokes, composition and color. Watercolor resist always intrigues kids, and they find it simple to achieve success with it. Have them draw a picture in heavy crayon, leaving white space in the background. Afterward, have them paint over the entire picture with a light wash of watercolor. Monochromatic portraits help students to realize all the tints and shades a color may achieve by adding black or white to the basic color. Have them paint themselves or someone else using only one color, black and white while mixing as many tints and tones of the color as possible (see references below). Have kids practice mixing paint colors and creating as many new colors as possible. Give them red, blue, yellow, white and black, then have them see how many new colors they can create. As a craft project, have them use the new colors to create a picture or simply make a color swatch paper and name all their new colors with fun names.
Nontraditional Application
Create fun paint crafts with kids by using applicators other than traditional brushes. The list of possibilities here remains endless; some ideas include marbles, potatoes and sponges (see references below). Items such as marbles placed in a box with a piece of paper and several blobs of paint, then rolled and pushed through the paint, create an interesting paint craft. Leave the resulting picture as an abstract painting or use the paper once dry, to create other objects such as collages. Use items such as combs, sponges, cotton swabs and straws to apply paint for interesting paint craft effects. Apply paint in a printing manner by carving designs into half of a potato then pressing it into the paint and then onto the paper to create pictures. Abstract paint designs or special effects for use in other craft projects such as collages are achievable by flicking a paint-filled toothbrush for speckled paint or dragging a paint-filled string between two pieces of paper for a smeared effect.
Paint Additives
Use paint to create texture in a three-dimensional sculpture or on a flat painting by mixing different substances into the paint. Soap added to watery tempera or acrylic paint, then stirred a great deal gives an interesting foamy effect if left to dry undisturbed. Create rough textures by adding sand to tempera or acrylic paints. Paint with the sand-infused paint on cardboard or poster board to support its weight and create interesting textured pictures. Glitter added to diluted tempera or acrylic creates a glittery effect suitable for holiday paint crafts. Salt added to paint, once dried, creates a shiny effect with acrylic and tempera paints. Use it on heavier weight paper and create interesting water and background effects on which you can paint details with plain paint once the background dries. The contrast between the salt-infused paint and the plain paint provides interesting details. Sprinkle salt on wet watercolor paintings for a blotched effect as the paint tends to move away from the salt crystals. Use this as an interesting effect when painting water or sky. Commercial additives for paint also exist, but allowing kids to experiment with their own ideas for paint additives makes an interesting and fun paint craft for kids.
