Subscribe to our Mailing List

Get the news right in your inbox!

Painting Fun with Toddlers

Painting Fun with Toddlers: Kool-Aid and Shake & Paint

August 9, 2011 Sarah Coggins

I’ve been having lots of fun recently gathering crafty ideas on Pinterest that I can do with my son. As hot as it is, we need indoor activities to keep us occupied. Two of the ideas we’ve tried involve paint – Kool-Aid painting and Shake & Paint.

Painting Fun with Toddlers

Kool-Aid Painting

I experimented with Kool-Aid painting with my son and his cousin first. Although at 10 months, L isn’t quite into brush to paper, she did manage a few strokes before the brush went to her mouth. I appreciated that our “paint” was just drink mix and water thus didn’t have to worry about her tasting it minus the stain of red around her mouth. 😉

To make the “paint” – we mixed a package of Kool-Aid mix with 1 tbsp of hot water:

Kool Aid Painting: mix paints

My son and his buddy, G, were serious about their painting … at first. Moments later they were splattering it everywhere. I think only my kitchen ceiling missed getting hit. LOL

Kool Aid Painting

Because paint isn’t just for brushes – you have to get your hands in it! The one warning about Kool-Aid painting, even after washing your hands, they will be temporarily stained:

Kool Aid Painting: stained hands

But it’s all worth it for fun with your friends and cool paintings. Here’s what we created:

Kool Aid Painting: completed paintings

Shake and Paint

Yesterday I was searching for another indoor project to do with my son and his cousin when I came across Shake & Paint. It’s an idea I had seen before but forgotten. His cousin left before we started (I think she would have enjoyed rolling the can so we’ll try again another day). My son helped me line up our supplies on the kitchen floor: paper, crayon bits, paint and a can (yes, that’s the can I decorated for his birthday party!):

Shake and Paint: supplies

We rolled the paper inside of the formula can (tip: an oatmeal can would work as well). Dropped in our crayon bits and squirted a bit of paint:

Shake and Paint: crayons

Then came the fun – securing the lid and shaking!

Shake and Paint: shake!

We peeked inside and found some colorful blobs on the paper:

Shake and Paint: peek

We put the lid back on and tried rolling the can. This moved the crayon bits, and thus the paint, up higher onto the paper. After pulling out that sheet to dry (top right in photo below), we experimented further. We tried squirting the paint down the paper vs directly into the bottom. My son squirted a bit of paint (which equaled LOTS of paint as well as paint on floor – good thing it cleans up easy!). Our finished masterpieces:

Shake and Paint: paintings


For more fun project ideas, check out our Kids Crafts page.

3 Comments

  • ter@waaoms August 9, 2011 at 9:34 am
    sounds like fun and always good to show unconventional ways to do things...that there is no right or wrong way and the result is always worthwhile.
  • Stacey August 9, 2011 at 12:45 pm
    i like these! definitely going to have to try that with grant!
  • Jamie @ hands on : as we grow August 18, 2011 at 7:28 am
    Ha! The kids were caught red-handed! :P I'm featuring this on this week's It's Playtime! Love the cute handprints that were made with the Koolaid paint!
  • Leave a Reply

    I accept the Privacy Policy

    About Me

    Sarah

    Hi! I'm a DIY and craft obsessed mom to 2. I have my hands covered in sawdust or paint any given day. My husband and kids join me in many of our projects. When we aren't creating at home, we're creating memories in our many adventures. Join along! Read More

    Sarah

    Subscribe & Follow

    Subscribe to our Mailing List

    Get the news right in your inbox!

    DIY Project Money (aka Affiliates)

    Kids Craft Kits
    At Home

    Miscarriage

    I highly recommend the book What Was Lost: A Christian Journey through Miscarriage for any woman of faith who has suffered a miscarriage or anyone wanting to gain insight to help comfort a spouse, friend, sister, daughter, etc.

    Contributor

    Fine Print

    2paws Designs is a for-profit site. I make a small compensation from select links when purchases made via one of the affiliate companies. Select posts are sponsored and noted as such. All opinions within this website are my own. Find the Privacy Policy here.

    Amazon Associates Disclosure

    Sarah Coggins is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

    Hosting with SiteGround

    Twitter Feed

    ×