Painting With Children

Children love color and the best way to introduce color is by using and mixing paint. You may think painting with children sounds daunting, but it is possible to teach children to paint when given the right tools and directions. Expecting to produce a good painting with a cheap watercolor paint set is not the answer. The brush is poor quality and much too small. The paint color is too light. Tempera is a good alternative and the colors are thicker and richer.

First you need to purchase:

Flat brushes

Round brushes (tear drop shapes)

Tempera Paint in bottles of the primary colors, red, blue, yellow as well as white, brown, and black

Paper plate to be used as a palette

Plastic tub like a used plastic butter or yogurt carton for water,paper towels

Start by covering the table with newspaper or plastic cloth. Fill up the tub with water and squeeze out paint on to your paper plate. Teach the child how to use the brush. Many children will swish the brush side to side when they first start to use it. It takes showing them often to change this kind of brushing. It will not produce good color and usually gives the painting a messy look.

Show them how to wash the brush after using one color to keep the colors pure. Have them dip into the paint, brush on to the paper and then wash the brush. Illustrate that the brush should not be pushed down too hard on to any surface because it ruins the hairs. After washing they are to dab slightly on to a paper towel to remove too much water. Then pick up another color

To mix colors, one of the primary mistakes is to add a light color to a darker color. For example, when mixing white and red to make a pink, do not start adding white to a large area of red. It will take much more paint than is needed because of the intensity and darker nature of the red color. Put the white down on the palette and add a small amount of red to the paint a little at a time to achieve the color you want.

To mix the primary colors such as red with yellow, put your yellow down first (the lightest color in the mixture) and then add the red. If you want to keep the red pure then wash the brush before mixing again. These colors will produce orange and adding more or less of each will produce either a yellow orange or red orange. At this point if you add any blue, your color will become more and more brown. Tempera colors can become muddy if the mixture is not done properly so try to keep the children from mixing all the primaries together.

Instead of trying to produce a "picture" of something, explore different lines and shapes while trying out the paint and brushes. In this way, there is no frustration on the part of the child to produce something recognizable. It frees the child to experiment with color.

Begin a short session in painting and you will find your child truly enjoying not only the process but also the creative aspects of painting. To further develop your children's painting, look for other articles about projects for painting with children.

Beth cook is an artist who loves to write about art. She suggests you also check out art classes Plano, TX and Allen TX art classes.