If you have creative little fruitloops at home, you can whip up colourful kids’ art projects with household items without a single trip to the craft shop. Your recycling bin, kitchen cupboards and junk drawer are secretly bursting with arty magic.
Why colourful kids’ art projects with household items are brilliant
Using everyday bits and bobs turns making into a playful treasure hunt. Children learn to see creative potential in the most ordinary things, and you save money on fancy supplies. It is also a fantastic way to reuse packaging and reduce waste while filling your home with bright, happy artwork.
Before you start, cover the table with an old shower curtain, bin bags or a wipeable cloth, and keep a damp cloth or baby wipes nearby. Pop everyone in old T-shirts and you are ready to splash some colour.
Juicy fruit stamping art
Fruit stamping is a delightfully simple way to explore pattern, colour and shape. It turns snack time into studio time, and the results look wonderfully bold and graphic.
What you need
Apples, oranges, lemons or pears, a chopping board, child-safe knife for grown ups only, plates or trays for paint, poster paint or ready mixed paint, and thick paper or card.
How to set it up
Slice the fruit in half to reveal the beautiful natural patterns. Pat the cut side dry with kitchen roll so the paint is not too runny. Pour small puddles of paint onto plates, then invite children to dip the fruit and stamp onto paper like colourful polka dots and flowers.
Encourage experimenting with overlapping prints, rolling oranges for stripey textures, or mixing colours on the plate. Once dry, the prints can be cut into shapes for cards, bunting or bookmarks.
Mess minimising tips
Use a tray with a lip to catch drips, keep paint colours to two or three, and have a bowl ready for used fruit so it does not roll around the table.
Cereal box collage creations
Cereal boxes are perfect for sturdy, colourful collage. Their bright designs and chunky card make them ideal for kids who love cutting and gluing.
What you need
Empty cereal boxes, child friendly scissors, glue sticks or PVA, crayons or felt tips, and extra scraps like magazines, envelopes or sweet wrappers.
How to set it up
Flatten the boxes and cut along the seams to open them up. Children can cut out letters, mascots and colourful patches to build their own characters, cityscapes or abstract art. Use the plain inside of the box as a background board or cut it into shapes like crowns and masks to decorate.
Layering different textures is half the fun. Encourage kids to mix shiny, matte and patterned pieces to see what happens.
Mess minimising tips
Use a shallow box lid as a cutting and gluing station, and have a scrap bowl for offcuts so they do not spread across the floor.
Homemade stamps from recycling
Homemade stamps are a playful way to explore pattern making and turn plain paper into wrapping paper, cards or posters.
What you need
Cardboard offcuts, bottle tops, sponges, string, elastic bands, poster paint and tape or glue.
How to set it up
Cut cardboard into small squares and glue on shapes cut from sponge. You can also wrap string around a block of card to make stripey patterns or use the base of a bottle top as a dot stamp. Press the finished stamps into paint on a plate and print away.
Children can design repeating borders, spotty animals or rainbow patterns. It is a fun, low pressure way to play with rhythm and symmetry.
Mess minimising tips
Keep one plate per colour, press stamps gently to avoid splats, and have a washing up bowl nearby for quick stamp rinsing.
Painted pasta jewellery party
Painted pasta jewellery is colourful, tactile and totally irresistible. It is one of the most joyful colourful kids’ art projects with household items, and it doubles as a fine motor workout.
What you need
Dry pasta shapes with holes, such as penne or macaroni, string or wool, tape, and poster paint.
Colourful kids’ art projects with household items FAQs
Are colourful kids’ art projects with household items safe for young children?
Yes, colourful kids’ art projects with household items can be very safe as long as an adult prepares any cutting, checks for small choking hazards and uses child friendly paints and glue. Stay close by, keep materials non toxic, and swap very small items for larger, easier to handle pieces for toddlers.
How can I store finished artwork made from household items?
Let everything dry completely, then flatten or gently press pieces between sheets of paper. You can photograph 3D creations before recycling bulky parts. Favourite pieces from colourful kids’ art projects with household items can be framed, hung as bunting or turned into homemade cards and gift tags.
What if I do not have paint for these projects?
You can still enjoy colourful kids’ art projects with household items using crayons, felt tips or homemade colour from watered down food colouring. Children can draw directly onto cereal boxes, colour pasta with pens instead of paint, and use colourful paper scraps to add brightness without any liquid paint at all.
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