7 Tips Painting with Toddler Preschool Kids

By Spramani Elaun

I love introducing young toddlers and preschoolers to watercolor painting first.

All young children can learn to paint and pick up valuable information from this type of activity quickly.

Even as young as 15 months!

At these ages children will be exploring paint rather than painting with it.

7 quick tips to getting toddlers started!

Use safe paints intended for young children only rated non-toxic, young kids for the first time will always taste the paint out of curiosity.
Dress for a MESSY time! Young kids lack fine-motor skills to keep paint in the palettes, be prepared for this. It takes many years before kids stop making frequent spills.
Plan to work large until kids can get refined motor-skills. If you don’t want large messes, shrink down the paints and paintbrushes. This is one of my major tricks I share in my book Kids Painting.
Start simple with a few colors first, maybe even one color. Too many colors can be over stimulating, I’ve seen this many times with my students.
Start with transparent watercolor type paints that can be diluted with water, Watercolor Paints. Watercolor paints are easy to manage stains until you get familiar yourself with painting and clean-up.
Don’t try to teach a painting lesson to toddlers, let them explore and discover what paint is naturally. You can take the lead by, dipping a paintbrush into paint, and making simple brushstrokes marks. Kids love to mimic adults and what they do!
Play paint, don’t expect young toddlers to know how to make images. A toddlers first years painting is more about exploring, and the discovery of how paint make washes and brushstrokes. Keep it basic.

Starting out with these 7 tips will help your first time painter enjoy the process, and even learn from it.

Have fun, relax and paint play. Don’t expect little Picasso work! 🙂

A young child’s attention is individual, fist timers may go a few minutes, or last 20 minutes.

Expose kids to this process often, and eventually they will enjoy and understand what painting is about.

If you want to learn more about teaching young children painting, check out my book Kids Painting.

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