This list of 105 creative painting ideas is a fun way to build skills through creative art. We’ve pulled together creative painting to support child development through creation play! Whether you are looking for painting ideas for toddlers, preschoolers, for the classroom, or for the occupational therapy clinic, these creative paint activities will get your brain ticking with ideas to support creative expression, emotions, sensory play, fine motor skills, and more!
Add these ideas to your list of occupational therapy crafts that build skills.
Creative Painting
In Occupational Therapy interventions, OTs and OTAs love to support their clients through creative outlets, specifically those that are meaningful to the client. For some children, art and painting is just that: a tool that inspires movement, sensory challenges, visual motor integration, crossing midline and more. OTs can use creative painting as a motivating strategy to develop skills…and maybe add in a bit of creative expression at the same time! Some of these are sensory paint ideas but most involve problem solving and creativity expression through creative paint!
Why Use Creative Painting?
Creative painting with clients develops skills. When painting in creative ways, you’ll see movement and sensory experiences that they typical canvas and brush don’t allow:
- Fine motor skills
- Gross motor skills
- Crossing midline
- Problem solving
- Executive functioning skills
- Motor planning
- Tactile exploration
- Sensory experiences
- Bilateral coordination
- MORE!
Creative Painting materials
The ideas listed below will get your creative juices flowing for your next paint project. Kids love when a creative painting idea is presented to them because it’s a bit of the unexpected! Out-of the box thinking when it comes to painting ideas is part of the magic.
Gather some of these materials for your next painting adventure:
- Paints– tin of watercolors, washable paints, acrylics, finger-paints, etc.
- Painting surfaces– canvas, cardboard box, paper, newspaper, paper towel, clothing, paper plates, styrofoam, bubble wrap, piece of paper, watercolor paper, etc.
- Sensory mediums to mix paint into– shaving cream, sand, salt, dough, bubbles, etc.
- Tools to paint with– brushes, paintbrushes, rolling pin, flowers, feathers, forks, ice, crayons, cotton swabs, pencils erasers, etc. You can even go on a nature walk to gather items to use to paint with.
This list is just a starting point…the creative ways to paint is literally in your imagination. Take these ideas and run with them to make your next creative painting masterpiece.
The Mess of Creative Painting
It can be common to immediately think about the mess involved with all of this creative art making, however there is therapeutic benefit as well, and focusing on those aspects can help with the mess issue.
Plus, the clean up portion of painting is a great time to work on those OT self-care goals that aren’t some of the more fun parts of childhood:
- hand washing – a paint activity is great motivation for washing little hands!
- cleaning the body
- scrubbing hard enough to remove the paint
- cleaning up one’s surroundings
- wiping down a table
- cleaning out a sink
- washing paintbrushes
- drying a table
Creative Painting Ideas
There are so many fun ways to explore color, texture, and creativity through paints listed here. We can not wait to try them ALL! There is just something about painting that is relaxing and satisfying…
- Textured Paint Sensory Play
- Paint with Bottle Caps
- DIY Shape Stamps
- Paint with kitchen utensils
- Paint with feathers
- Paint cardboard boxes
- Painting Bubble Wrap
- Feather Flower Craft
- Paint snow
- Paint snow painting with watercolors
- Paint with flowers
- Stamped Art Flower
- Noodle Garland
- Goop Painting
- Paint with water on a sidewalk or driveway
- Gift Bow Stamp Art
- Painting With Yarn
- Paint a shower stall or bathtub using bath paints
- Paint a driveway with liquid chalk paint
- Concentric Circles Stamp Art
- Sparkle Collage Art
- Creative Painting Art Ideas
- Concentric Circles Stamp Art
- Paint your body with body paints
- Sparkle Collage Art
- Creative Painting Art Ideas
- Monster Cupcake Liner Craft
- Paint your hair with hair chalk (watered down hair chalk works best for this)
- Paint an old egg carton
- Baking Soda Paints
- Painting With Pinwheels
- Fireworks Art
- Paper Roll Apple Stamps
- Paint a brick wall with the hose
- Paper Roll Turkey Stamp Art
- Paper Roll Pumpkin Stamps
- Glitter Paint Snowman Craft
- Paint newspaper
- Snowflake Stamp Art
- Fine Motor Sparkle Craft
- Paint with a comb and hairbrush
- Noodle Garland
- Goop Painting
- Shamrock Thumbprint Art
- Feather Flower Craft
- Stamped Art Flower
- Make Your Own Textured Paint
- Make Your Own Colored Sand
- Stamp Roll Painting
- Clay Rocks Outdoor Decoration Craft
- 3D Drip Paint
- Make flour paint
- Mix baking soda and food coloring and then add vinegar for science art
- Paint toilet paper rolls
- Paint paper towels
- Paint toilet paper
- Paint recycled materials
- Scrape painting on a canvas
- Ice painting with ice cubes
- Fingerpainting with watercolours
- Make a paint pendulum with an erector set or tinker toys
- Preschool Paint Decorating from From ABCs to ACTs
- Painting with Trains from Where Imagination Grows
- Number Painting Boards from Left Brain Craft Brain
- Color Theory Activity from Gift of Curiosity
- Paint with Carrots from Stir the Wonder
- Paint pumpkins
- Paint rocks
- Paint sticks
- Paint using a cotton ball in a clothes pin
- Paint with toothpicks
- Paint with a plastic fork
- Paint a paper plate
- Paint on a window with soap paint
- Paint bark on a tree
- Paint with dirt paint (painting outdoors is a good idea with this one! And keep the hose handy!)
- Paint on styrofoam for beaded paint
- Paint with a turkey baster
- Pour paint to work on bilateral coordination
- Paint with string
- Paint with tweezers holding a craft pom pom
- Paint using a rolling pin
- Paint with homemade water colors
- Paint wooden crafts using acrylic paints
- Paint on a swing
- Paint with your body
- Paint a ball and roll it on paper
- Paint on Easter eggs
- Paint on coffee filters
- Mix up marbled milk paint
- Make homemade puffy paint
- Paint sand
- Paint on an easel or vertical surface
- Face paint on a baby doll
- Paint your hand and make handprint art
- Paint with a potato
- Paint with magnets by moving one magnet under a box and the other magnet moving through paint on the inside of a box
- Paint on large paper using a broom
- Paint a cardboard box using a paint roller
- Paint DIY cardboard bricks
- Paint with cotton swabs (Qtips)- Here is a cotton swab painting activity for Spring
- Paint a rubber duck
- Paint inside a plastic baggie
- Make 3D drip paint
- Paint on a train table or water table
These creative painting ideas are fun crafts to build skills through fantastic fun! Which self-expression activity are you going to choose first?
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2 thoughts on “105 Creative Painting Ideas”
Thank you so much for hosting, I look forward to your linky every week 🙂
So many fun ways to paint! Love it!
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