Paint + homemade paintbrushes + stencils + 2 kids = FUN! and some lovely Thanksgiving stencil painting art!
Because painting is so much fun, I decided to focus our Thanksgiving craft on using some simple stencils. I drew some simple designs, a pumpkin, two leaf shapes and a turkey of course. So, ready to have fun? Here’s how you can repeat this Thanksgiving stencil painting activity with your own little ones.
1. Make Stencils
Get your FREE PRINTABLE HERE: thanksgiving-stencil-painting-stencils
Once you’ve printed your stencils, I recommend using cardstock, cut them out. Here, you want the outline to be complete, so punch a hole with the scissors in each shape and cut around. You can use some extra pieces of paper to section off the stencils and avoid getting paint outside the stencil lines if you want. We kept things low-key and baby girl went a bit more freestyle in the end!
2. Make Paintbrushes
I made some fun paintbrushes using a clothespin. I used felt, which worked out great for dabbing, paper and some rosemary from our garden. The rosemary smelled great, but the kids preferred the felt paintbrush over the other two. It was fun to see how each one worked though. You can use whatever you have around. Traditional paintbrushes are also fine.
3. Get Painting!
I gave my kids brown cardstock to paint on. We used yellow and red paint placed in a yogurt cup. They did the mixing themselves and enjoyed seeing splashes of yellow and red in the paint. It was a great way to see how orange is made!
I decided to introduce my baby girl (14 months) to painting when Peanut took a nap. This usually happens the her way around…baby girl takes a nap and Peanut and I get to crafting, but this time, Peanut was exhausted from running around all morning and decided to take a break. It was a great opportunity to focus on special one on one time with baby girl. I put an old shirt on her, and we got busy. She loved it! She tried eating it once or twice, but then focused on getting paint on the paper. It was great fine motor practice and she got really good at sticking the paintbrush in the yogurt cup.
Then, when Peanut woke up, the whole family got involved and we did some more painting. Peanut was a bit more into the stencils. He liked to pick out the shape and then dab all of the corners so it would come out nicely. He is also already an expert at pouring and mixing his own paint.
When we were done, I hung their artwork up on our clothespin ribbon gallery. Our Thanksgiving stencil painting adventure was a success! I think it looks pretty festive and the kids really enjoyed it.
Happy painting!
Need more thanksgiving crafts? Check out my top 5 favorite Thanksgiving crafts here.
S.L.O.A.H.
7 Nov 2016I love your homemade paintbrushes! What a fabulous sensory tip. 🙂 It must add some wonderful texture and fun to your kids’ painting. #MMBC
rpeachey19@gmail.com
7 Nov 2016Yes – it was interesting to see how each one worked! Thanks for reading!
Joanne | no plate like home
7 Nov 2016Cute craft. I will share this post with my moms group!
rpeachey19@gmail.com
7 Nov 2016Thanks Joanne!
Helen
8 Nov 2016My baby boy loves painting, well, I think he probably loves the mess!
rpeachey19@gmail.com
8 Nov 2016Messy can be great if you’re prepared for it 😉
Harmony, Momma To Go
9 Nov 2016Wow! Your family is so crafty! Now that it’s getting colder and we are indoors now, I need more ideas!
Volcano Mama
18 Nov 2016Hope you enjoy!
Louise Pink Pear Bear
12 Nov 2016What a great idea to make paintbrushes like that! So unusual and they look like they loved it! Thanks for joining us at the #bigpinklink
rpeachey19@gmail.com
12 Nov 2016Thanks Louise!
Bethb
15 Nov 2016I love your paintbrushes. My toddler loves painting too so I’ll definitely be trying stencils soon
#MessAndPlay
rpeachey19@gmail.com
15 Nov 2016Thanks! I hope you enjoy stencil painting
Sam - StressyMama
28 Nov 2016Those paintbrushes are fab. It looks like so much fun. My daughter would love this.
#MessandPlay
Volcano Mama
28 Nov 2016go for it! Hope you enjoy!
Karen | TwoTinyHands
3 Dec 2016We’re still getting to grips with paint at the moment. I love the idea of making your own stencils dependant on the season too. Autumnal colours are great aren’t they!? Thanks for linking to #messandplay this month hope you will be able to again!
Volcano Mama
5 Dec 2016Thanks Karen! Paint is loads of fun.