Looking for some silly everyday household things for toddlers and kids to paint with?
Look no further… Here are some things other than a paintbrush that you can use to paint with.
As an added bonus, most things you have laying around the house anyway!
Simply bring out the paper, paint, and a tablecloth perhaps to limit mess, and just find some of these super silly items to paint with.
I like to do one (two at most) silly items at a time so it will keep their interest. I usually have paintbrushes on hand for later because believe it or not, paintbrushes are still my kids preferred method of painting.
However, it is so fun to mix it up and get extra creative!
Here’s a few silly things you can paint with at home with toddlers and kids:
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Q Tips
Grab those Q Tips out of the medicine closet and add them to any kid painting activity for an easy substitute for a paint brush!
Q Tips are great for getting those little dots on paper and little kids love painting with Q Tips for something different!
Cotton Balls
Cotton Balls is a great paintbrush alternative and great for young kids! Put a cotton ball on clothespin and get stamping those cotton balls!
Easy, peasy!
Cookie Cutters
Cookie Cutters are fun to paint with and a great way to make all different shapes with paint!
You can use whatever cookie cutters you have on and dip them into the paint to make whatever designs you want! So easy and fun!
If you don’t have cookie cutters but do have kids, I recommend getting some. We love baking with our cookie cutters too, but it’s fun to get other uses out of them too!
Feathers & Leaves
Feathers, leaves, or anything in nature with a silly shape is great to paint with!
Using feathers didn’t keep my kids attention for too long but they did get a cute giggle out of it!
Dinosaurs
Grab those dinosaur toys and get them stomping through the paint to make dinosaur tracks!
Our dinosaurs make more like paint globs, but it was still fun to do something different!
And dinosaurs are a great size for those little toddler hands for painting!
Painting with Bows
Take bows from wrapping paper and dip them into paint to big marks onto paper and a silly design!
You could use different sizes to see the difference is size and shape or just use one at a time!
Caps and Covers
Find leftover caps and covers from the recycling pile or where ever you can to use with paint!
Caps and covers are great to paint with and make super fun circle designs on paper!
Best of all, you use what you have and you can toss that leftover pouch cap or whatever after!
Painting with Legos
Painting with Legos was probably the biggest hit, and they cleaned pretty easily too!
We used our first builders building blocks but you can use whatever legos or blocks you want!
Painting with Toilet Paper Rolls
Use leftover toilet paper rolls to paint with too! They will also give you a circular shape or you can use tape to make a new shape, like a heart!
Toilet Paper Rolls make great stampers, or you can just paint the roll like what my two year old did.
A Few More Ideas
Here are a few silly ideas that we haven’t tested but my toddler and preschooler will paint with soon!
- Monster Trucks and Cars: Drive those trucks right through the paint!
- Potatoes/Apples/Etc: Cut the produce with a design and stamp them into the paint!
- Yarn or Ribbon: Make silly lines and designs with the yarn!
- Forks: Get those silly fork shapes onto paper!
- Sponge: Cut your dish sponge into fun shapes to make a paint stamper!
- Wine Corks: Put those leftover wine corks to good use and have the kids stamp with them!
- Dice: If you have dice to spare, try using dice in your paint!
- Cardboard Shapes: Cut out the cardboard to make even more shapes and designs! Layer them for extra fun!
What other household or common items that you’ve painted with before?
