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Creative  Art Techniques​  
​Using Paint
​

Many of these creative painting ideas can be adapted to work with any theme.
Change colors and textures for different themes and topics

  • Paint or finger-paint on windows or glass door. Add a little Joy soap to help cleanup. Or spray on foam paint and use sponge rollers.

  • String or yarn painting. Dip 10” lengths into paint, and drag across paper. Use medium tempera, and push yarn into paint with brush if necessary. Also, paint-loaded yarn can be placed between a paper folded in half. Press down on top of the paper, and slowly pull the yarn out.
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  • Marble painting. Cover several marbles on a spoon with paint. Slide them into a shallow box with a sheet (or shape) of paper on the bottom. Roll the marbles around. Also, a blob of paint can be placed on the paper in the box, and then the marbles are dropped in and rolled around.

  • Crayon resist – so many variations! Color with white or colored crayon (or paraffin or a candle) on construction paper. Go ahead – press hard and scribble. Paint over the top of it with thinned watercolor washes. Gold with teal blue looks super!  Also, use salt with the paint.  Either mix it with the paint before using, or sprinkle it on afterwards

  • Painting with baby oil on various kinds of paper, with watercolor brushes or cotton swabs. The paper becomes translucent, and it smells wonderful. Cooking oil is an alternative.

  • Butterfly blots – create symmetrical patterns.  Fold paper exactly in half, then open and drop small blobs of thickish tempera on one side. Push it around a bit, and then close the paper. Open for a surprise, every time.
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  • Rainy day. Splash diluted watercolors on a large piece of paper from a brush.  

  • Spray watercolors with spray bottles onto large paper, or onto snow outside, or snow put in the sensory box. Also spray clear water on t a fence or wall, or colors onto large paper attached to a fence.

  • Make your own paints with natural dyes. Boil onionskins or asparagus, or broccoli. Heat cranberries, blueberries or raspberries in a little water until the water colors. Strain it, put in a paper cup and paint with it.
  • Paint with ice cubes. Freeze water colored with lots of watercolor paint in ice cube tray. Put a Popsicle stick in each one when partially frozen. Paint on white paper, watch the ice melt. Also, dump the ice cubes (without sticks) into the sensory box, squirt with more water colors and sprinkle with salt (or rock salt).

  • Drip painting – use plastic eyedroppers or small brushes to drip watercolor onto a paper towel on top of newspapers. Or use large paper coffee filters. Or tissue. 
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  • Paint with feathers, using tempera. Needs several feathers to make a satisfying experience.
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  • Paint rocks with thick tempera. Bring smaller ones inside to do it, or take the paints outside. They can be washed and painted again.
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  • Spray some good smelling shave cream, of some foam paint onto a laminate table. Drip food coloring if you wish. Paint with brushes, combs, craft sticks, fingers.
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  • Blow blobs of thinned tempera across paper by puffing through a straw to make a branchlike design. Add leaves, blossoms or fruit if desired.
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  • Vary paint textures and scents. Add glitter, coffee grounds, dirt, crumbled leaves. Food scents from spice shelf – strawberry, coconut, lemon etc.
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  • Paint with corn syrup, with food coloring added. Using paper cups helps cleanup.
 
  • Cotton ball art – dip in paint or powdered tempera, and press on paper. Drag the cotton balls across the paper, or dab with them. Let some remain adhered to the paint and dry.
  • Paint with crumpled balls of crepe paper or tissue. Dip a ball in a little water, and dab on the paper. The color transfers

  • Paint with vehicle wheels. Use washable vehicles with wheels that roll. Dip in medium tempera, and then roll them across the paper. Use wheels with various texture “treads”. 
Dinosaurs activities and free printables for preschool and kindergarten
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Back to Creative Art Techniques  index
Indispensable Supplies
 Activity Recipes
Techniques with Paint (20)
Techniques with Collage and Glue  (15)
Drawing Techniques (6)
Techniques for Print Making (10)
Sculpting Techniques (3)
Construction Techniques (4)
Stitchery Techniques  (8)
​
Miscellaneous Techniques  (4)

More to see...

  • The Theme-a-Pedia - 157 themes for preschool teaching
  • Become a KidSparkz member and access a password-protected area of the site for $3 a month.
  • ​The KidSparkz Philosophy
  • What We Teach: Curriculum  Planning
  • The Power of Reading! - Establishing the Environment for Early Literacy Development
  • Letters for Little Learners - an alphabet curriculum 
  • Toddler Curriculum - for ages 18 to 36 months (over 1600 pages)
  • Theme Packs - low-cost, many are available at no cost to members.
  • Pre-K Themes Series - a  collection of low-cost downloadable mini teaching topics/units that are focused towards preschool and pre-K learners.​​

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What theme are YOU working on now?

All About Me
Action Heroes
African animals
Air
Airplanes 
Alphabet
Amphibians
Animals
Ants

Apples
Arbor Day
Arctic Animals
Australian Animals
Babies
Back to School
Baking
Baseball
Bats
Beach
Bears
Bicycles
Birds
Birthdays
Boats
Bubbles
Butterflies

​​Camping 
Cars
Cats
Chickens
Chinese New Year
Christmas
Cinco de Mayo
Circus
Colors 
Community 
Construction 
Cookies
Corn
Costumes
Cows
​Dinosaurs
Dogs
Ducks
Earth Day
Easter
Elephants

Fairy Tales
Fall
Family
Farm
Father's Day
Forest Animals
Fish
Flowers 
Food
Friends
Frogs 
Fruit
Gardens
Gingerbread 
Grandparents
Groundhogs
Halloween
Hands
Hanukkah
Harvest
Hawaii 
Hibernation
Homes
Horses
Ice Cream
​Insects
​
4th of July
Koalas
Kwanzaa
Ladybugs
Leaves
Light
Lions
Living Things​
M L King
Mice
Mittens
Monkeys
Mother's Day
Neighborhood
Neighborhood Signs
New Year
Night Sky
Nocturnal animals 
Numbers
Nursery Rhymes ​
Ocean
Owls
Pancakes
Penguins 
Pets
Picnics
Pigs
Pizza
Popcorn
Pumpkins
Quilts
Rain
Rainbows
​Rainforests
Restaurants
​Rocks
​
Scarecrows​
Shapes
Shells
Shoes
Snakes
Snow
Space
Spiders
Spring
Squirrels
St. Patrick's Day
Strawberries
Summer
Sun
Shopping
Teddies
Teeth
Thanksgiving
Tools and Machines
Toys
Trains
Treasure Hunt
Transportation
Trees
Umbrellas
Vacations
Valentine's Day
Vegetables
Water
Watermelons
Weather
Whales
Wheels
Wind
Winter
Zoo
Why KidSparkz?
​The goal here at KidSparkz.com is to provide a central, content-rich resource to support teachers, childcare providers, and parents of young children. We offer a full spectrum of free, low-prep and low-cost instantly downloadable curriculum, hands-on centers, activity packs, and free printables to use for and in the education of young children ages 2 to 6+, specifically for preschool, pre-K, and Kindergarten ages.  Educational resources are added often.
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  • Home
  • Theme-a-Pedia
  • Members
    • Members Subscribe (automatic renewal)
    • Members Subscribe (no automatic renewal)
    • Member's Log-in
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    • Alphabet and Literacy
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    • Favorite Themes
    • Science
    • Social Studies
    • Holidays
    • Seasons
    • Songs and Rhymes
    • Fine Motor
    • Bundles
  • Let's Sing!
    • Preschool Sings All About Me
    • Preschool Sings Dinosaurs
    • Preschool Sings Animals
    • Preschool Sings Ocean
    • Preschool Sings Holidays
    • Preschool Sings Seasons
    • Preschool Sings Traditional
    • Preschool Sings Christmas 1
  • Contact
  • About
  • Early Childhood Links
  • News Blog
  • Preschool Art Techniques
  • Pre-K Themes Series
  • Toddler Curriculum
  • KidSparkz sitemap
  • Preschool math
  • Pre-K Themes Series 2
  • Pre-K Themes Series 3
  • Pre-K Themes Series 4
  • Pre-K Themes Series 5
  • Pre-K Themes Series 6