DIY: Easy To Do Painting Ideas on Canvas For Kids

Are you in search of painting on canvas ideas for beginners that will make your child feel like a true artist? If yes, we have a wonderful idea that’s easy to make yet looks incredibly beautiful! 

Normally, kids are used to painting on paper. However, giving them a chance to try their hands on a canvas can be a unique experience for them. They learn to paint on a textured surface and add a touch of depth and dimension to their artwork. They can ditch regular watercolors and practice using acrylic colors and other painting mediums. Plus, there is a lot of scope for personal development too! 

So, let’s begin with the benefits of painting for children and then move on to making a beautiful painting on canvas. 

There are many ways in which painting impacts the development of a child. Here are the reasons why you should encourage kids to embrace painting and make interesting artwork: 

1. Boosts motor skills

Painting involves the use of tools like paintbrushes and color plates. When kids use these tools, they work their muscles and build muscle control, which in turn boosts their motor development. Fine motor skills improve while holding and painting with a brush, whereas gross motor skills develop when kids use their large muscle groups when painting on a large easel-mounted canvas. 

2. Encourages creativity

Painting gives kids a chance to explore their creativity. When left free to create their own artwork, kids use their imaginations to come up with something unique that defines their interests and thought processes. Guided painting, on the other hand, helps channel their creativity into a tangible form and teaches them to appreciate art, no matter the form. 

3. Enhances memory

Creating a design on the canvas requires kids to remember the shapes involved, the colors required, and the techniques to paint to achieve a desired outcome. All of this requires memory skills, which are built up when kids try their hands at painting. 

4. Builds attention span

Completing a painting often takes time, and this helps build attention span. Young kids usually have short attention spans and tend to deviate to other activities too soon. Painting engages them for longer periods and requires them to pay attention to the details of the project they are working on.   

5. Allows self-expression

As kids don’t have enough vocabulary and are yet to develop the ability to express themselves clearly, painting allows them to vent out their thoughts, ideas, and emotions through colors and designs. That’s why it is quite possible to see happy kids using fun, bright colors like yellow and orange, whereas those feeling a bit low use deep, dark colors like black, gray, and indigo. 

6. Improves visual perception and visual-spatial skills

Activities like filling paint in an outlined image or copying a painting technique or an image on the canvas help improve a child’s visual perception. And when kids visualize shapes and ideas before putting them down on canvas, it improves their visual-spatial skills too!

7. Develops hand-eye coordination

Controlling the paintbrush while landing it in the right spot on the canvas is a result of good hand-eye coordination. Therefore, painting is one of the best activities for eye-hand coordination. The more kids practice painting, the better they get at coordinating between their hands and eyes. 

8. Boosts self-esteem and confidence

Painting is also one of those activities that boost self-esteem in students. Though it takes some time to finish the artwork when kids paint on a canvas, seeing their masterpieces complete after all the hard work boosts their self-esteem and confidence. The sense of achievement is extremely rewarding and encourages kids to do more of it in the future.

9. Encourages planning and problem-solving

The act of painting also requires proper planning and execution. So, when kids paint, they must plan out the steps and work in a stepwise manner before they can complete their project. It is also possible to face challenges in between, which encourages them to find solutions and proceed accordingly. 

You will need:

  • Canvas 
  • Pencil
  • Sponge
  • Toothbrush
  • Paint brushes
  • Q-tips or cotton swabs
  • A4-size paper (white)
  • Acrylic paints (white, black, and shades of blue)

Steps to paint:

Start by drawing a circle with the help of a pencil. You can use any circular object to trace the circle on the canvas. 

Now take a small quantity of titanium white paint on a small piece of sponge and spread it evenly inside and over the circle. 

Next, squeeze out some sky-blue paint on the sponge and spread it around the white circle. Make sure to blend the paints evenly so there is no distinct margin between the two colors and the transition from one color to the other appears seamless.

Similarly, use a darker shade of blue to surround the previous circle, covering the sides of the canvas completely. Leave some space on the top and bottom of the canvas, and add a hint of black color to it. Blend the margins of every color so that the colors appear smooth and unified with no harsh lines. 

Now take some titanium white on a color-mixing plate and use a toothbrush to create twinkling stars in the night sky. To get this effect, pick a little paint on the toothbrush and angle it such that the bristles face downwards. 

Run your thumb over the bristles, releasing small droplets of paint over the canvas. Vary the distance of the toothbrush from the canvas so you can achieve stars of different sizes. 

Now draw an outline of a mother holding a baby up in the air on a white A4 sheet and cut it out using scissors. If drawing is difficult, you can find a mom and baby silhouette on the internet, print it, and cut it out to use as a guide to create the outline.

After the stars dry up, place the mom and baby cut out on the canvas and use a pencil to draw the outline. Use black paint and a fine brush to fill in the color. 

Give some time for the paint to dry before moving on to the next step. 

Draw a tree outline on the remaining white paper and use its cutout to paint a tree silhouette on the canvas. Fill it up with black paint as you did before, and use a cotton swab to paint white dots on the tree. 

And once this is done, your canvas painting is complete. Isn’t this a lovely painting? 

I think it is one of those great painting on canvas ideas for Mother’s Day that celebrates the special bond between a mother and her child. Paint this for your mom and see her smile on the special occasion. 

Canvas painting is a great activity for kids of all ages. Besides stimulating imagination and allowing children to express their creativity freely, it supports their development in multiple ways. Along with incorporating canvas painting into art class sessions, canvas painting can be organized for events and celebrations, seasonal activities, family get-togethers, and relaxation sessions. 

While buying canvases may seem expensive, the experience it provides is unmatchable. Kids feel like real artists as they color the canvas with their ideas and confident brushstrokes. Plus, canvas painting makes an effective choice, especially if you are one of those parents who love to frame their kid’s artwork as a childhood keepsake. So, let your kid try this canvas painting idea, and don’t forget to tell us how it turns out!

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