easy and fun CHRISTMAS activities… kid Christmas paintings

When our plans changed suddenly this morning, Little M and I found ourselves with two free hours.  “Can I paint?”  I was not one bit surprised with that request,  she loves a mess and what makes more of mess than paint?  Lucky for me, we have a well stocked art center right at our finger tips.

Christmas Activities… Christmas Painting

what you need: Construction paper ~ tempera paint ~ egg cartons ~ paint brushes

Little M told me that she wanted to paint a big Santa.  Since I needed some time to prep the paints I handed her a pen and told her to draw out what she intended to create.

While she was working, I filled a few egg carton cups with paint.  Set out a handful of paintbrushes and grabbed the camera.

What simple joys!  She painted until her picture was a masterpiece of brown and black, of course I smiled and commented on her use of the such strong colors.  Not always easy when the end product is so much different then the process.   (But that is for another time. . .be sure to check back Mommy Fun Fact #6 is a big one!)

Questions (to ask your kids):  “What do you think will happen to the red when we add white?”  “How did you decide which size brush to use?” “Tell me about your masterpiece!”

Tips (to maximize learning):  1.  When you buy paint, you only need five colors;  red, blue, yellow, white and black.  From there you can mix anything.  2.  When you are mixing the colors, used different shades of the same color.  Let them watch, or help you mix.