Art So Easy, A Toddler Can Do It

We had so much going on during Christmas, that I thought the girls could use a little break from all the chaos today. Clara, in particular, seemed to be a bit over-whelmed with it all. So when Emily was off playing with all her lovely new toys, Clara and I snuck in a quick painting project. It was the perfect way to calm her (and me) down.

This snowflake painting was done using a similar technique to our stunning Winter tree paintings, only this one was even easier. It was so easy, in fact, that Clara did it with great results!

To make your own snowflake painting, you will need: light blue, dark blue, and purple paint, masking tape, and canvas board (very inexpensive).
First, make an “X” in the middle of the canvas board with masking tape.
Next, add another line of masking tape bi-secting the “X” as shown.
Add a few bits of masking tape on each end of the snowflake.
Invite your child over to PAINT!!! Extra bonus points for painting in your pajamas.
Encourage your child to cover the entire canvas board with paint.
Lots and lots of paint!
Now, allow the paint to dry completely.
When the paint is completely dry, gently peel off the masking tape.
Use a black marker to outline your beautiful snowflake.
Ta-da!

Display proudly in your home!

Comments

  1. Dear Valerie,

    I'm surprised you didn't post the picture of Clara crying when you took her paint brush away, when it was time to switch colors!

    Love,
    Mark

  2. I LOVE it! Painting always relaxes me and my kids too!

  3. I love this idea! We are gonna SO try it out when we get back from all our holiday travels…

  4. Raising a Happy Child says

    I love it – it turned out so very pretty. we are definitely going to try it here too.

  5. Val in the Rose Garden says

    Amazing as always. That is beautiful. I bet LOgan would just love it!

    Love Val

  6. What a great project! M and L would love this. Do you have to use canvas do you think or would heavy paper work just as well?

  7. Infant Bibliophile says

    So pretty! I can never get my 2 year old to cover a piece of paper. He just dabs a few spots and then says "all done" and wants to get another color or play with taking caps on and off or whatever. He may dab 2 or 3 different colors on, but then I have to move on to something else or cheat and finish it myself. But hey, Mommy needs a little calming down with painting too, so that's OK.

  8. We will definitely try this one.

  9. Thats a great project! Turned out real well!

  10. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog says

    @ Mark — I'm thinking you should consider writing a "behind the scenes" guest post sometime. I'm sure you have plenty of good material!

    @ Ivy — Yes, heavy paper works well. We used watercolor paper for the Winter tree paintings and it worked. Just be sure to wait until the paint is completely dry before peeling off the masking tape. Have fun!!

  11. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog says

    @ Infant Bibliophile — Sounds like your son is quite the minimalist! Emily was very much the same way until she started watching me paint. If you paint along side him, he might paint for awhile longer..? Or just finish it up for him…. I'll never tell! 😉

  12. Oh that is so fun and came our really lovely! I will have to do one with ER for sure. She just loves to paint and paint and it gets hard to keep coming up with ways to turn it into something. Hope you had a lovely holiday!

  13. Deborah J. Stewart says

    That turned out gorgeous! I will have to share this with my teachers!

  14. Deborah J. Stewart says

    That turned out gorgeous! I will have to share this with my teachers!

  15. Another beautiful piece of art! And what a fun project – the only question my sad little mind has is where might I find canvas board? Inexpensively, of course!

    Thanks for sharing, we'll be doing this soon!

  16. Very pretty – great work, Clara!

  17. Just Breathe says

    That is really a cute idea. She did a great job painting.

    Happy New Year friend.

  18. Such a nice simple idea, I've been wanting to try something like this.

  19. MamaFeelgood says

    Oh that is lovely

  20. Easy and beautiful! We'll do this project.

  21. pinkmilkisyummy says

    What a lovely project. I love the way your ideas are things that I can picture my kids actually doing! This one is definitely on my list of things to do over the holidays.

  22. Rachel@oneprettything.com says

    Wow, that is so pretty! Thanks so much for another fun and beautiful project. I'll be linking.

  23. The Domestic Contessa says

    Another great idea – thanks for sharing! I'm thinking that this would be a fun way to decorate some Christmas thank you cards…

  24. Success on ebay selling now says

    That so amazing how nice art.. those child really very smart and expert .

  25. Love it. I adore your blog so much. Thank you for all the work you put in. You keep my household sane 🙂

  26. This is a beautiful project! I imagine you could use fingerpaints as well – I think it’s great to be able to let toddlers “have at it” and explore painting!

    Would you consider entering this idea into a winter idea contest on my website? http://www.theseedsnetwork.com/contest.php

Trackbacks

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  2. […] the past week we’ve done three crafts that required a bit of prep time. Snowflake rubbings, snowflake wall hanging, and we glued bits and pieces on a snowman. The kids loved doing these. FrugalFamilyFunBlog.com is […]

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  4. […] pared down version of the cute snowflake craft that Frugal Family Fun blog posted last year. We didn’t have any masking tape so I sort of dumbly tried duct tape which FYI is really hard […]