The past two days that I worked with my older boys has been a bit challenging. Trying to find something that appeals to both boys (4 and 7) and doesn’t create chaos can be tough to figure out. These two painting projects were short and sweet, but the boys both seemed to really like them.
Spray Bottle Painting
We mixed some paint with water and stuck it in a spray bottle. We started off spraying some paper I had taped to the fence, but that didn’t hold their interest for very long. I decided to take them on a walk up and down the alley behind their house and let them go wild spraying whatever they wanted. They had fun spraying rocks, bits of garbage and some leaves. We hit the jackpot when we came upon a patch of daisies growing behind someone’s garbage cans. They had so much fun spraying the daisies! We even picked a few to bring back to their Mom.
Ice cube painting
I’m so glad that I saved this project for a really hot day like yesterday. When I got to work, I mixed together some water and food coloring. I stuck with just four colors, since I wanted it done fast. I poured the colored water into ice cube trays and popped them in the freezer. After lunch, I set up a station outside at the picnic table. I spread out some paper and stuck the ice cubes into bowls.
The boys were hesitant at first, but quickly got into spreading them around on the paper. Stephen happened to be with us yesterday, and even he got in on the action.
You can use the ice cubes to make some art work (that’s mine above), but the boys lost interest fast. Once the ice cubes started melting, they were more into playing table top hockey with them. T even tried eating a few of the ice cubes! The best part was at the end of our art time. I told them that it was time to clean up, and all they had to do was toss the ice cubes in the grass. That entertained them for another 10 minutes! It was a fun little activity that cooled us off for a bit.
When’s the last time that you painted something?
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