The words mess-free and toddler don’t usually go great together, but in this case they do! I love this new way of painting for toddlers so much that I think my walls are going to be covered in baby masterpieces. All you need is a zippered plastic bag of any size. Dab a dollop of paint onto your picture, slip it inside the bag and let your little one squish the paint around. In less than five minutes, you have a beautiful, original painting and your child is CLEAN!
We did this activity with shamrocks during St. Patrick’s Day Tot School. I originally came across this idea via Pinterest. I was sure that I pinned it, but I cannot find it anywhere now! That mom used leaves for a fall activity, but I printed a few shamrocks on card stock and cut them out.
I dabbed a bit of washable green and yellow paint on our cut-outs. To my surprise, Corbin and Lynley were not very interested in squishing the paint around. It could be because it was almost nap time when I attempted this arts and crafts session. Or maybe the fact that we were outside, and they wanted to dive into the ball pit instead. Nevertheless, I ended up doing most of the “painting” myself.
I left the shamrocks in the bags a little too long before I took them out to dry. A few of them stuck to the bag or tore in places. I would advise you to take them out of the bag very carefully just after you finish. Place them on newspaper to dry for a couple of hours. Then decorate with them however you want! I strung ours on some raffia ribbon and hung it below our mantle. Up top, I decorated with a lovely free printable via A Little Tipsy Blog. I love that the glitter shamrocks add a little sparkle to our decor. Those are also a Dollar Tree find. (You can find more money-saving Tot School tips here.)
If you enjoyed this post, please share it! There are lots of ways to do so, just click on the social media icons on the bottom of the post to tweet or share on Facebook, or hover over an image to pin to Pinterest.
Mrsteeh says
How cool is this? The lack of mess defintely gives it an added bonus! 😀 Thanks for sharing it at The Mommy Monday Blog Hop!
Calie says
I love this idea! I’m going to try it with my 3yr old this week.
abcstoacts says
How cute! What a great idea using the bags! Mess-free is definitely an added bonus
Annie says
That is SUCH a good idea! I know I love letting my kids get messy, but once in awhile it is nice to give them an alternative that saves me from having to clean up
Steffany @ Spit and Sparkles says
I am the complete opposite! It takes a lot of convincing myself to just let my twins get dirty. Next time, I will let them free paint in the nude like real artists! Ha
kewkew says
Oh my, what a wondrously marvelous idea! I love the thought of paint with no mess.
I would love for you to stop by and share on this week’s Toddler Idea Tuesday. Each week I Pin the posts that link up and highlight some of the posts.
Hope to see you there
http://totsandme.blogspot.com/2014/03/toddler-ideas-tuesday-march-11th-2014.html
Have a great evening
Steffany @ Spit and Sparkles says
Thanks for the invite! Linked up
kewkew says
Thanks for linking up over at Toddler Idea Tuesday. Sorry it took me a while to stop by. I was sick last week and have been playing catch up. There was no Toddler Idea Tuesday last week because of that. However, I will be featuring your post this week. Hope to see you at Toddler Idea Tuesdays again. Have a great day.
Julie Mom says
I love this!! Especially since my 18 month old is more likely to eat the paint then actually paint with it! Pinning this!
Steffany @ Spit and Sparkles says
Ha! I think Corbin did end up eating a tiny bit from the utensil I used to dab the paint. But it’s nothing near what would have been digested! Thanks for pinning, and enjoy!
meandbabye.com says
This is a brilliant idea! We are a military family, living far from family but traveling often to see them. This is a great way to bring art projects to keep my little one busy without making a mess is someone else’s home! Love it!