Features
Preschool painting: A primer
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Display the paintings
Post the paintings where children can see them—on the wall near the floor or on the back of a bookshelf or room divider. You might post them on a bulletin board or place them in cardboard frames and hang them in a hallway or entrance. Displaying their art shows children you value their creations.
It’s important to display the work of all children, not just those pieces you think are the best. If children have produced lots of paintings, you might ask them to choose one that they want everyone to see.
Often children want to take their paintings home, and parents are usually eager to see their children’s artwork. You’ll save some pieces—or photograph them—to place in each child’s portfolio.
Keeping a record of children’s work allows you to monitor their growth and make sure they have experimented with all art materials. Most children need no prompting to paint, but you may encounter a child who lacks interest. You may need to meet this child halfway: “Timmy, I see that you used an oatmeal box to make a tower for your castle. Would you like to paint the box so it’s all one color?”

Painting empowers children
For preschoolers, painting is a sensory adventure. It’s the joy of squishing finger paint against a smooth table top. It’s the thrill of swabbing a brush loaded with red paint across a sheet of blank paper.
Teachers can offer this adventure by providing a few simple materials and then getting out of the way. Children will use the materials to develop a visual language. They will explore with brush and paint and learn much in the process.

Painting activities
Simple paint materials—paints, brushes, and paper—offer great possibilities for successful learning. But it’s always fun to inject a little variety, as suggested in the activities below. Be sure to provide smocks and clean-up supplies for each activity.
You can buy paint from educational suppliers or your local crafts store, or you can make your own paint from common household ingredients. Children will enjoy making the paint with you.

Sidewalk painting
(Age 3 and older)
Here’s what you need:
sidewalk paint (see recipe below)
paintbrushes
container of water
sponges

1. Bring paint and brushes outdoors, and invite children to paint directly on a sidewalk.
2. After they finish, wash the sidewalk clean, or let the paint dry for later viewing.
3. This paint is thin and may require several coats on the sidewalk to show up well.

Watercolor fantasy
(Age 3 and older)
Here’s what you need:
crayons
watercolor set and paintbrush
paper
sponge or spray bottle
container of water

1. Invite children to scribble with crayons on a sheet of paper.
2. Dampen the entire sheet with a wet sponge or spray bottle.
3. Apply the watercolor paint with a brush. The paint will fill the blank spaces not covered by crayon. Let it dry.
Variation: Have children first make a crayon rubbing of a leaf or a textured surface like a wire screen before painting with watercolor.

Puff painting
(Age 3 and older)
Here’s what you need:
puff paint (see recipe below)
paintbrushes or craft sticks
construction paper
sponges
container of water

1. Invite children to dip paintbrushes or craft sticks into the paint.
2. Paint on the paper and let dry completely. When dry, the paint will puff up.
Variation: Spoon the paint into squeeze bottles, and invite children to squeeze out designs on thin pieces of cardboard.

Flicker painting
(Age 4 and older)
Here’s what you need:
white paper
watercolor paint set and brush
sponges
container of water

1. Take children outdoors with watercolor supplies. Provide a table or other smooth, hard surface where children can paint.
2. Invite children to dip a sponge into water and dampen one side of the paper.
3. Wet the paintbrush and fill it with a color. Let the paint drip from the brush onto the paper.
4. Flick or shake the paper to move the paint around.
5. Wash out the brush.
6. Repeat dripping and flicking with other colors. The colors will blend on the wet paper.
7. Lay the paintings on a flat surface to dry completely.

Watercolor surprise
(Age 4 and older)
Here’s what you need:
white construction paper
masking tape, torn into varying lengths
watercolor paint set and brush
sponges
container of water

1. Invite children to place tape randomly on the paper.
2. Paint over the entire paper, including the tape. Let it dry.
3. Carefully pull up the tape. Talk about the results.
Variation: Children can place the tape strips to form letters of their names.

Spray painting
(Age 4 and older)
Here’s what you need:
heavy white paper
liquid tempera paint, medium consistency
paintbrushes
spray bottle of water
sponges
container of water

1. Place the paper on a flat surface outdoors, such as a table or sidewalk, or clip it to a fence. Or place it on a floor indoors that has been covered with newspaper or plastic.
2. Invite children to dip a paintbrush into a paint color and drip the paint onto the paper. They may use more than one color as long as they clean their brushes in between.
3. Spray water onto the paint drips, which makes the paint spread and blend.
4. Lay the paintings on a flat surface to dry completely.

Window painting
(Age 5 and older)
Here’s what you need:
newspaper
tape
paintbrushes
liquid tempera paint
sponges
container of water

1. Tape newspaper to the bottom edges of low windows to protect the sills and floor.
2. Invite children to paint on the inside of the window. Leave the design on the window for several days.
3. Talk about how the paintings look in sun and shadow.
4. Wash off the painting with soapy water and sponge. Dry with paper towels.
Variation: Cover the window with cellophane or tissue paper and paint on these surfaces instead of the glass.

Color wheel
(Age 5 and older)
Here’s what you need:
white paper
paper plate or other circle shape to use as a pattern
pencil
liquid tempera or watercolor in red, yellow, and blue
paintbrush
sponges
container of water

1. Have children lightly trace around a paper plate to make a circle on the paper.
2. Invite them to place a blob of yellow paint at the top of the circle (12 o’clock), a blob of blue at 4 o’clock, and a blob of red at 8 o’clock. Wash out the brush before applying each different color. Explain that these are primary colors.
3. Invite them to move a bit of yellow and a bit of blue paint into the 2 o’clock space and let the colors mingle to create green.
4. Do the same with red and blue in the 6 o’clock space to create purple, and the red and yellow in the 10 o’clock space to create orange. Explain that these are secondary colors. Talk about how all colors (except white and black) can be made from the first three.
5. Encourage children to create more colors such as yellow-green and yellow-orange on the color wheel.
Extending the activity. Provide clean Styrofoam meat trays or frozen dinner trays for children to use as a palette for mixing paints when they do their next painting.

References
Beal, Nancy. 2001. The Art of Teaching Art to Children in School and at Home. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Dodge, Diane Trister; Laura J. Colker; Cate Heroman; and Toni S. Bickhart. 2002. “Art,” The Creative Curriculum for Preschool. Washington, D.C.: Teaching Strategies.
Dombro, Amy Laura; Laura J. Colker; and Diane Trister Dodge. 1997. The Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers. Washington, D.C.: Teaching Strategies.
Kohl, Mary Ann. 1994. Preschool Art: It’s the Process, Not the Product. Beltsville, Md.: Gryphon House.

Editor’s note: Thanks to Marilee Blackwelder, Stepping Stone School, Austin, for providing information for this article.