Watercolor Art Projects for Kids

Long summer holidays! If you are a parent, then that exclamatory phrase probably transpires into a dreaded time of broken artifacts, messy and stained rooms, and listening to a constant monotonous chant of 'I am bored'. And if not that then it is the fear that your kids are going to win the next contest which announces the Couch Potato of the Year. Well, one way of keeping your kids occupied (and productively at that), is to start them off on kids art activities, like watercolor art projects for kids. You never know, but making them join watercolor art lessons for kids may open up yet un-thought of avenues and display their aptitude for painting.

Watercolor paintings are your best bet when it comes to children, since they can be easily washed off, because they are made from pigments that are water soluble. Painting can be quite a messy affair, so be sure to assign a room to your kids where they can pursue their watercolor painting projects. Watercolors or aquarelle, as they are known in France, are not the easiest mediums to work with, as painting with them requires some mastery over the technique. There are several watercolor art projects for kids, but some interesting ones are listed below.

Watercolor Paint Crafts for Kids

Watercolor arts for kids can keep them occupied for hours, but they have to provided be with some interesting, fun, and creative watercolor painting ideas. There are several captivating and exciting watercolor paint crafts for kids.

Watercolor Wash: Draw your basic design or image with a crayon on an art paper sheet. Dip a brush in water and wet the paper by running the brush over it. Then paint it with watercolors. Make sure that the paint is diluted. The paint will fill in everywhere except the area which is drawn in with the crayon.

Watercolor Twirls: Take a rectangular sheet of paper. Near the corners, put four thick blobs of four different colors. Using your index fingers, start spreading the colors, two blobs at a time, in a twirly (or hurricane like) fashion till they meet near the center. Do the same with the remaining two colors till they meet near the center. This will give a four tone effect to the center, while maintaining the individuality of the colors near the corners.

Resist Painting: You will need masking paint for this watercolor art projects for kids, which you can buy at any art supply depot. On a piece of art paper, draw a design that you want and fill it in with masking paint. Now paint in the rest of the paper in any pattern that you like. Rub off the masking paint, with your fingers. If you want to use layers of colors in the original design, you could use masking paint on different parts and color it one section at a time.

Salted Watercolor Paintings: On an art paper sheet, draw the outline of the image that you want to paint. Paint in the areas that you would want the attention to be on. Ensure that you paint these areas in bright colors. Now sprinkle regular salt on this painted section and let it dry. The salt creates a beautiful pattern and gives the painting a speckled texture. Once the painting is dry, you can brush off the salt and paint the other areas carefully.

Wet Paintings: Dip your art paper sheet into a bucket of water. Take it out and smoothen the sheet on a plastic table. Paint thick coats of different colors on the sheet and then with your fingers, make abstract designs. Give it a blurry and fuzzy feeling. After the painting dries, you can use sketch pens to draw a design on it.

Zebra Watercolor Paintings: Paint the entire piece of paper black and let it dry. Use only white watercolor paint to make designs on the paper. You could also reverse this idea, using only black paint on a pure white sheet of paper.

Spray-painting: Take a sheet of paper and paint it in a pastel shade. You can lighten a watercolor paint by adding water or the color white to it. Take an old toothbrush and dip it in a contrasting darker watercolor. Then hold the brush on top of the paper and run your index finger over the bristles of the brush. The droplets that will fall on the paper will form a beautiful design.

Thread-painting: For this watercolor crafts for kids, you will need a spool of thread. Take a piece of paper and keep it on a flat surface. Take a piece of thread and dip it in paint. Now place this thread on the paper in any design of your liking. Press onto one end of the thread and pull the thread using the other end. This will cause the formation of a design on the paper.

If you want other art and craft ideas to keep your kids occupied, then read more on:

• Clay Art for Kids
• Holiday Arts and Crafts for Children
• Paper Mache Craft Ideas for Kids

Watercolor art projects for kids are not difficult at all and allow them to explore new avenues in arts and crafts. You can either use the aforementioned watercolor art for kids ideas as it is or you can give them a twist, with your own ideas.