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My boys love to paint but being as they are both toddlers (well, I suppose Cohen can now be classified as a Preschooler. Oh my.), I had to find an easy way to let them be creative without so much cleanup afterwards..
These are my tips to providing fun, independent and creative painting fun for toddlers:
The most important thing to consider when painting with your toddler (or really, a young child of any age) is to find safe and waterproof paints! My boys seem to always get the paints all over the place; on their skin, the table, their clothes and hair… So knowing that the paint they are using is non-toxic and natural as well as easily washed off helps me to enjoy their painting experience right along with them! (My favorites are Clementine Art paints)
I also have ice cube trays that I use to keep the paints close and separated for the boys. They enjoy their own little paint trays and I enjoy that the trays keep the mess at a minimum! Cohen does, however, enjoy mixing all his colors together but I just let him do what he wants with his own paints because, again, I am trying to encourage them both to be creative and try new things! At first when he’s mixing them, he can see that red and yellow mix together to make orange and so on.. After a while, they all start to turn brown and black but this is a good lesson as well! 
Another tip I have is to take a couple of small pieces of tape and tape their papers in one spot on the tablecloth.. Cohen is usually pretty good at keeping his paper in one place but Eli has trouble painting and having the paper sliding around. The tape is also handy for taping outside to dry so the wind doesn’t carry them away!
I also picked up these cute toddler-sized paintbrushes from my local dollar store. They are stubby and rounded at the end to help with grasping. Eli drops the skinny ones because they slip right out of his fingers so these new red ones are perfect for him! (I have also seen texture brushes similar to these that I want to get!)
When I pull out the paints, I can count on at least a solid 30-45 minutes of painting time with my boys. They love the chance to play with messy materials and I love that with all the tips I use above, it really is not that messy! I spend less than 5 minutes cleaning up everything after they’re done and that’s it. To me, that’s a huge success!
They love the creative outlet and I enjoy watching them teach themselves different painting techniques and color combinations each time! Sometimes, Eli will ask me to help him paint a certain animal (or whatever he’s wanting to see) but I really try to encourage him to try for himself. He can get a little frustrated at times because he knows he can’t really paint objects yet but I talk him through it and let him know that he can paint anything on the page and have it be whatever he wants! He loves this. Once he remembers this, he tells me all sorts of things that he paints (which, of course, just look like blobs but kudos to creativity!)!
So rest assured parents, it really is possible to let your toddlers play with paints and have there be very minimal cleanup! Lots of creativity for them and little work for you. Score!
Do you have another tip for painting with toddlers??
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Great tips for me! I’ve been wanting to get my boy into painting and I will put using these tips when I pick up his supplies and let him try.
Love the use of ice trays I use them with my preschoolers to help with fine motor and categorizing
Only 5 minutes of cleaning is a win for me!
The ice cube tray is a great idea! Right now we don’t do much for craft stuff because although my oldest is 2.5 years and would love it my youngest is 15 months and cannot do anything like that yet (he still puts everything in his mouth). BUT my 15 month old can climb and get into pretty much anything. I am hoping in another few months he will understand a bit better and we can do things like this again:)
You are brillant!!! Why have I never thought of ice cube trays!! Keeps all the paint in their own areas will keep them sealed off from getting splashed onto the table. Definitely a fun activity!! we love painting here but we do tend to exclusively paint outside because of the mess. These tips might make me brave enough to try it inside
This is such a great idea, I will have to try this when my 16 mo th old gets a little bigger! Right now she would just eat the paint lol!
Love the ice cube trays as paint trays… we use old egg cartons as paint trays. I cut them in half so we have 6 paint colors at a time. Very easy to clean up
My son LOVES to paint. It has got to be one of his favorite things to do! 
My 4-year old loves to pain and right now we only use water colors. You have motivated to get me to the store and get some real paint. He will love it! Using ice cube trays for the paint is also a great idea as is taping down the paper. I never would have thought of those on my own. Thanks!
Ice cube trays for paint = genius! And I’m so impressed at those dollar-store paintbrushes. Those are exactly what we need here – and I never would’ve thought I’d be able to find them cheap! Love their masterpieces. Looks like they had a fabulous time!
I love painting with my girls. When we don’t have a lot of time, I use the watercolor pages but they bore of those quickly. Their favorite is a blank page, colors on a plate then mixing all the colors together and making a big brown mess on the page
This is such a cute idea! I’m going to try entertaining my niece and nephew with a little painting! LOL
The ice cube try is such a great idea!
Love the idea of using ice cube trays! I always hate painting with my son but this looks like such an easier way to do it! Thanks!
This is really helpful info! I have a 2 1/2 year old and haven’t done any painting with him because I am afraid it will turn out to be a disaster. I will definitely have to do this with him and he will love it!
wow, their faces are soooo cute!! When I paint with my toddler I always take them outside on a warm day because inevitably, they paint themselves. And a hose works wonders LOL!!
These are great ideas. I will have to tape down their papers the next time my kids paint. I think it will make things a whole lot easier and far less messy!
Great tip on the ice trays. My toddler wold love that!
What a great idea to use ice trays. We have a couple sitting in our garage that I think my hubs was going to throw out.
Creativity is never underrated! Great way to spark that imagination!
I wish I knew about the ice cube trays and taping down their papers years ago. Great tips!
I’d never thought of ice cube trays! Smart lady you are!! We do paint time in the bath, then follow with an actual bath! My son loves it!
Great tips! I have to constantly be reminded about stuff like this because I was raised in a household where it was a huge no-no to paint, play with play dough or anything that could potentially be messy. I have to learn to let go and let my kiddos be creative and have fun. Thanks.
I also like the tip someone gave about using the egg cartons cut in half. Great idea.
So using the ice tray tip next time!
Great idea with the ice cube tray! I love “messy” ideas for toddlers.
My business gets giant boxes of eggs, I save the egg trays and cut them up for my daughter to use with paints. It makes the mess disposable
What a great idea!