If you’re looking for easy art techniques for kids, paper towels and liquid watercolours are two supplies that you can grab quickly to keep your little ones entertained for ages.
In case you missed the big news, we recently turned our dried out markers into these amazing homemade liquid watercolours.
The results were FANTASTIC, and the toddlers and preschoolers in my daycare have been using our awesome homemade paints to create all kinds of art. We had a ton of fun with this process today. It’s a great way to explore water absorption, and a super fine-motor activity too.
If you don’t have liquid watercolours:
You can use washable markers and water to create beautiful paper towel art. Last fall, we did this paper towel project with markers and water. You can give it a try if liquid watercolours aren’t an option for you. You can also use food colouring or icing gels like we did when we made our paper towel butterflies.
Supplies needed for this toddler art project:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
- paper towel
- liquid watercolours (our recipe or Store-bought liquid watercolors)
- ice cube tray
- paintbrush
- paper towel
All set? Let’s create some paper towel art!
*NOTE: protect your work surface with a plastic table-cloth, an old towel or even a cookie sheet.
Start by pouring a small amount of liquid watercolour into your ice-cube tray. Slightly dilute your colours with a few drops of water.
Now hand out the paintbrushes and paper towels and let the kids paint!
As they brushed on their watercolours, it was exciting how quickly the paper towels absorbed the colour! The girls were quite fascinated and focused.
The two-year old applied her watercolours by tapping them all over her paper towel.
The three-year old worked slowly and methodically, covering every square inch of her “canvas”.
We dotted and splatted and brushed and dabbed. We even experimented with two brushes at once.
This easy art project kept the girls happy for close to an hour! Here are some of our completed paintings!
What a colourful activity for a grey, winter day!
More easy art projects for kids:
Stained Glass Art (with bottle lids)
Follow the Hooligans on Facebook
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Erin - The Usual Mayhem
You know, I don’t think we ever tried this one….at least not intentionally 🙂 Thanks for sharing; I know what we’ll be doing later today!
Thaleia@something2offer
I love this idea but am very stingy with my paper towels! I might try vellum, tissue paper, or the brown paper that comes in large boxes. Thanks for linking up to the Thoughtful Spot Blog Hop. Hope to see you next week!
Jill
I like this too, but rarely buy paper towels because they are just not kind to the planet. Maybe we will try tissue paper too!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
happyhooligans
Sure, assuming you have some on hand. I’m sure you wouldn’t go out and buy that though, as it’s probably less “kind” to the planet than paper towels are. We don’t often use paper towels, but I do like to keep them on hand for this kind of thing. And of course, they can be composted when you’re ready to dispose of them.