Easter Paint Project for Children

Here’s a second Easter art project for elementary children. It uses water color techniques that make interesting effects.

The cross design reminds us that on Good Friday, Christ died for us so our sins could be forgiven and we could be reconciled to God!

The cross is made with masking tape, allowing you to paint right over it. When the paint dries, and you remove the tape, you’ll have a white cross, with beautiful paint patterns all around it.

Supplies:

Watercolor paints, brushes, and small containers to hold mixed paint
Watercolor paper is best for the special effects
Heavy white paper still allows a nice design (I’ll show you how)
Coarse salt
Wax paper torn into small shapes
Plastic wrap
Other techniques to try: paint spattering, drops of lemon juice or rubbing alcohol, grains of rice, leaves

Directions if using watercolor paper

Note: once your paper is wet, you have to have everything ready and work pretty quickly

Work in a place where you can leave your painting to dry before moving it
Use masking tape to form a cross on your paper (keep it a little rough looking)
Choose and mix 3 or 4 colors for the background in the small containers (I thought mine were dark enough, but would probably make them darker next time. Watercolors dry lighter than you expect)
With a large brush wet your watercolor paper all over with clean water (don’t make it sopping wet, just a light layer or sheen)
Brush the colors around your paper; drop some in with a brush or right from a container
Let the colors move around and swirl together for a couple moments (too long makes colors muddy and you need wet paint for the next steps)
Sprinkle salt or rice around your paper
Place a few pieces of wax paper or leaves around, overlapping them
Scrunch up pieces of plastic wrap and place on areas of paint

Leave everything to dry (it may take several hours if you had lots of paint puddles). Once dry you can try spattering paint.

Directions if using heavy white paper

Form a cross on your paper with masking tape as before
Decide what design you want for a background
Choose and mix 3 or 4 colors as before
Do Not wet your paper, but you’ll still need to work pretty quickly
With your brush paint your design., allowing colors to mix and blend
The salt, wax paper, etc don’t work well or even much at all on this paper, but spattering works just fine.

Leave everything to dry an hour or more depending on how wet your paint was. Once dry you can try spattering paint

Once either project is dry remove the tape, and any papers, leaves, etc,. Brush off the rice and/or salt and enjoy your creation!!

Now mount your creation on colored paper for all to admire AND be reminded that Christ didn’t remain in the grave, but rose from the dead on Easter morning.

Hallelujah!!

Note: I have a new work-for-hire assignment to write devotions, so starting next week I will be posting just on Fridays. But Molly and I hope you’ll come on back each Friday, because we’ll be posting lots of fun and easy art projects for children!