20 Easy Art Projects for Kids Using Things at Home

Good art projects for kids don't need a craft store. Most of the 20 art projects below use paper, glue, washable paint, crayons and things from the recycling bin. They're grouped by technique (painting, printing, collage, sculpture and mixed media), and each one has short steps you can follow in order. Use them for a home afternoon, a classroom center or a birthday party table.

Set up before you start

A few minutes of prep makes art time calmer.

• Cover the table. Old newspaper, a plastic tablecloth or a cut-open paper bag works fine.
• Use heavier paper for wet projects. Printer paper curls under paint. Cardstock, cardboard or watercolor paper holds up better.
• Put small amounts of paint on a plate. A tablespoon of each color is enough for most kids, and it saves waste.
• Keep a damp cloth nearby for hands and brushes.
• Think about age. Children under about 5 do best with big shapes and short steps. Older kids can handle cutting, layering and multi-step projects.
• Supervise scissors, hot items and anything small. Small beads and buttons are choking hazards for young children.

Painting and drawing projects

1. Crayon resist watercolor

1. Draw with a white or light crayon on white paper. Press hard.
2. Paint over the whole page with watery watercolor or thinned paint.
3. Watch the crayon lines show through, because wax repels water.

2. Salt painting

1. Draw a shape with school glue.
2. Sprinkle table salt over the glue and shake off the extra.
3. Touch a wet watercolor brush to the salt, and the color spreads along the lines.

3. Straw blowing paint

1. Drop some thin paint on paper.
2. Blow through a straw to push it into branches, rivers or hair.
3. Add leaves or flowers with a marker once it dries.

4. Sponge painting

1. Cut a kitchen sponge into small pieces.
2. Dab them into paint and press on paper.
3. Layer two or three colors to make clouds, trees or a patchwork quilt.

5. Warm and cool color painting

1. Paint one half of a page with warm colors (red, orange, yellow).
2. Paint the other half with cool colors (blue, green, purple).
3. Talk about how the page feels. Our guide to warm and cool colors has more ideas.

Printing and stamping projects

6. Vegetable and fruit stamps

1. Cut a potato, apple or bell pepper in half and pat the flat side dry.
2. Press into a thin layer of paint, then onto paper.
3. Make a pattern, such as a repeated border, or stamp a whole scene.

7. Cardboard tube stamps

1. Pinch the end of a toilet paper tube into a heart, or leave it round for flowers.
2. Dip in paint and stamp.
3. Add stems and leaves with a marker.

8. Leaf rubbings

1. Gather leaves and place them vein side up under a sheet of thin paper.
2. Rub the side of a crayon over the paper until the leaf pattern shows.
3. Cut out the shapes for a fall collage or card.

9. Fingerprint animals

1. Press a clean fingertip on a washable ink pad or paint.
2. Make a bunch of prints, then add legs, ears and tails with a pen.
3. Turn them into ladybugs, mice, caterpillars or a flock of birds.

Collage and paper projects

10. Torn paper mosaic

1. Tear colored paper (old magazines or construction paper) into small bits.
2. Sketch a simple shape, like a fish or sun, and glue the bits inside it.
3. Tearing is easier than cutting for little hands.

11. Tissue paper stained glass

1. Cut a big shape out of the middle of a sheet of cardstock to make a frame.
2. Tape clear contact paper or wax paper over the hole, sticky side up if you use contact paper.
3. Press small pieces of tissue paper onto it, then hang the finished piece on a sunny window.

12. Paper plate animals

1. Use a plate as the face or body.
2. Cut out ears, eyes and noses from scraps, and glue them on.
3. Add yarn for fur or a mane.

13. Magazine color collage

1. Choose a color, such as blue.
2. Find as many blue pictures and patterns as you can in old magazines.
3. Cut or tear them out and glue them in a shape of your choice.

Sculpture projects

14. Salt dough

1. Mix 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt and about 1 cup of water until it forms a smooth dough.
2. Shape beads, ornaments or small animals. Press a straw through the top to make a hanging hole.
3. Bake at a low temperature, around 250 F (120 C), until hard. Thin pieces often take 2 to 3 hours and thick pieces longer.
4. Paint after they cool. Salt dough is not food, so remind kids not to taste it.

15. Aluminum foil sculptures

1. Tear a sheet of foil and scrunch it into a ball, then pinch out legs, a tail or wings.
2. Add details by pressing in a pencil tip.
3. Stand your creature on a piece of cardboard.

16. Cardboard box city

1. Collect small boxes, tubes and cartons.
2. Tape them together into buildings and bridges.
3. Paint them and draw windows with markers.

17. Simple papier-mache bowl

1. Mix equal parts flour and water to make a thin paste.
2. Dip strips of newspaper in the paste and layer them over an upside-down bowl lined with plastic wrap.
3. Let it dry for a day or two, lift it off and paint it.

Mixed media projects with coloring pages

A printed coloring page is a handy starting point for kids who don't know what to draw. You can print pages from our gallery at home (here's how to print coloring pages well), or make a custom page with the AI coloring page generator.

18. Watercolor over crayon

1. Print a coloring page on heavy paper or cardstock.
2. Color the lines and some details with crayons.
3. Brush watery paint over the entire page. The crayon areas stay bright and the rest soaks up color.

19. Collage inside the lines

1. Print a page with big shapes, like a flower or butterfly.
2. Fill each area with torn paper, fabric scraps or tissue paper instead of coloring.
3. Outline with a black marker when dry. Our flowers and mandala pages work well.

20. Family photo art

1. Turn a favorite photo into line art with the photo to coloring page tool.
2. Print it large and let the kids color it any way they like.
3. Frame it as a gift for grandparents.

Tips to keep art time fun

• Focus on the process. Praise the choices a child made, not how closely it matches a model.
• Offer choices between two or three colors or materials, and let them decide.
• Show before you tell. Do one sample, but don't ask kids to copy it exactly.
• Save a few for later. Rotate finished pieces on a wall or fridge, and keep favorites in a folder.
• Teach one thing at a time. Our color mixing chart is a good next step once kids have fallen in love with paint.

Quick material list

Whichever project you pick, a stack of coloring pages and a box of crayons make a good back-up for the days when the plan falls apart.