Doing art is a wonderful way for kids to explore their creativity and develop new skills. Whether your kids enjoy painting, crafting, or designing, art is a great outlet to inspire young minds. This post is packed with fun, easy, and educational art projects for homeschool or afternoon fun. I hope you feel inspired by any of these creative art projects for kids!
Watercolor Painting
Painting with watercolor is a low-mess art project for kids. Begin this project by teaching your kids how to mix watercolor paints with a dab of water. Next, you can instruct them in color mixing. My children were delighted to learn they could make all sorts of new colors by mixing primary and secondary colors of paints. After mixing their favorite colors, kids can experiment with different types of brush strokes. Once kids have some basic watercolor skills mastered, they will be able to create original art as diverse as their imaginations!
Tissue Paper Suncatchers
On sunny afternoons, these tissue paper suncatchers are cheerful window decorations! My kids made these hot air balloon suncatchers using black card stock and colored tissue paper. The bright “stained glass” balloons decorated our windows all summer long! Use our free printable template and follow our tissue paper suncatchers instructions to make these with your own kids.
3D Marshmallow Designs
Building 3D shapes with marshmallows is another creative homeschool activity. Using large marshmallows and wooden skewers, kids can design their own 3D geometric shapes. You can also use mini marshmallows and toothpicks to create miniature 3D shapes. Simply insert the end of a stick into a marshmallow and connect it to another marshmallow. You can build up or outward to create all sorts of designs and structures.
Creating 3D shapes with marshmallows is a fun science activity that teaches kids about balance, angles, and dimension. However, you may discover it’s harder than it looks!
Tape Painting
If you’re looking for creative art projects for kids, try acrylic tape painting! We made this eye-catching geometric art using thin painter’s tape, a canvas, and brightly colored paint.
Project Materials:
- a white canvas
- thin painter’s tape / masking tape
- acrylic paint
- paint brushes
Begin with a white canvas as your starting point. Then, arrange long strips of thin painter’s tape across the canvas. Wherever you place a piece of tape, you’ll create a white line. Once the tape is in place, firmly press down the edges, smoothing them onto the canvas to ensure they stick securely. Finally, fill in the remaining shapes with vibrantly colored acrylic paint. Once fully dry, gently peel off the painter’s tape. The colored paint will pop alongside the white lines, creating a stunning and dynamic design. Ultimately, kids and adults will enjoy doing this creative art project!
Homemade Play Dough
Playing with play dough is an interactive sculpting type of art that also encourages fine motor skills in children. It’s easy to mix up homemade playdough and make your kids’ favorite colors. Additionally, a drop of lavender or lemon essential oil can create an extra sensory experience. This hands-on homemade play dough activity allows kids to mold, shape, and experiment with textures. Try our best homemade play dough recipe with your own kids.
Make homemade mint playdough by adding mint extract when you mix in the food coloring. Not only does this playdough smell amazing, it’s soft and so fun to squeeze and shape!
Creative Homeschool Activities from Crayola
One day we received a Crayola kids activity kit in the mail. It came packed full of coloring activities, paper crafts, and creative homeschool projects for kids. My kids colored a miniature dog figurine, made paper lanterns, and designed their own puzzles. Crayola makes a wide range of our favorite art supplies, including markers, felt tip pens, and crayons. Many Crayola products are must-haves for back to school!
Popsicle Stick Monster Craft
These colorful monsters are fun to create and customize. To make monsters, we used medium popsicle sticks, craft paint, and foam shapes. Googly eyes add the perfect finishing touch. Popsicle stick monsters can be as silly or as scary as you’d like. Personally, we prefer creating friendly monsters.
DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint
Perfect for summer, kids will love mixing up a batch of homemade sidewalk chalk paint. This pretty pastel paint is fun to brush onto the sidewalk to make creative designs. Mix up homemade paint by combining water, cornstarch, and food coloring. You can use a mini muffin tin to hold different colors. Once you’ve mixed the paint, kids can use small paint brushes to create art on the sidewalk. Because the paint is water based, it easily washes off the cement after art time is over.
Paper Heart Bookmarks
Whimsical heart bookmarks are fun to make and useful to mark your place in a book. Follow our instructions to make paper heart bookmarks in any color or pattern, using craft paper. We embellished these bookmarks using glitter paper and colored yarn to create tassels.
Egg Carton Caterpillars
Easily make these egg carton caterpillars by repurposing empty egg cartons. Simply cut an egg carton into strips and have kids paint each segment with colored craft paint. Allow the paint to fully dry before embellishing. Kids will love decorating these caterpillar pals with pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and rhinestones! This is a fun afternoon preschool project.
Heart Borax Crystals
For kids who love art and science, making shimmery borax crystals will blow their minds! As the borax solution cools overnight, sparkling crystals grow right on the pipe cleaner hearts. These colorful hearts are easy to make using pipe cleaners, borax powder, and a simple chemistry project. Find the full details of how to make DIY borax crystals here!
Eclipse Paper Art
If paper crafts are more your family’s speed, try this solar eclipse art project. Every few years, families anticipate seeing an eclipse, when the sun is fully or partially covered by the moon during the day. During one such year, we did an eclipse unit study for homeschool and my kids made this eclipse paper craft.
Project Materials:
- yellow & brown cardstock
- craft glue
- glitter
- ribbon
- crayons or colored pencils
- scissors
To make this art, you need colored cardstock, craft glue, glitter, ribbon, and scissors. Begin by tracing a plate onto the yellow cardstock to make a circle. Next, use the scissors to cut it out. Cut a slightly smaller circle using brown cardstock. Glue the brown circle onto the yellow circle to create a paper eclipse. Kids can decorate the eclipse with crayons, colored pencils, or a thin layer of craft glue and glitter. Finally, attach a piece of ribbon to the back of the sun to hang up their eclipse paper craft.
Butterfly Suncatchers
Next on our list of creative art projects for kids, these butterfly suncatchers are colorful and fun! Celebrate spring or summer by crafting beautiful butterflies for your windows, using all your favorite colors! Use our free butterfly printable, and teach kids to carefully cut out the shapes, trim tissue paper, and glue on colored tissue paper squares.
Dye Eggs with Natural Food Coloring
Last but not least, kids will have a blast dyeing eggs with DIY food-based dyes. Learn which foods produce which colors, such as red beets, blueberries, yellow turmeric, and more! This art project also doubles as a science experiment!
Leaf Painting
Turn a walk outside into art! For this nature-inspired project, kids gather fallen leaves and use them as a canvas, either painting delicate white dots and designs on the bright fall colors, or coating whole leaves in vibrant acrylic paint and glitter. Painted leaves make pretty fall home decor, a table centerpiece, or a seasonal garland. Follow our leaf painting instructions to try both techniques with your kids.
These creative art projects for kids range from quick crafts to hands-on science, so there is something for every age and interest. Art is one of my favorite ways to keep my kids engaged, whether we are filling a rainy homeschool morning or a lazy summer afternoon. Pick a project or two, gather a few simple supplies, and let your kids’ imaginations lead the way. Which creative art project will your family try first?
Hi, I’m Katie! I’m a homeschool mom who’s traveling the world with my husband and 4 kids. We raised our family in North Idaho and currently live in Mérida, Mexico. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I hope you enjoy our creative ideas and family adventures!
