Thing 1 and Thing 2 Canvas from 123 Homeschool 4 Me: How about a joint sibling handprint keepsake? You’ll love this whimsical Thing 1 and Thing 2 canvas featuring your favorite blue-haired characters.
DIY Canvas Art Ideas for Kids – HUGE list!
Your little one has been growing up so fast, and it’s hard to keep track of all the milestones. It’s time for a way to commemorate those precious memories that go by too fast! The best way is with a keepsake canvas art project. The features canvas paintings for kids are easy-to-do projects that will produce a memorable piece of artwork. You and your child will cherish them forever. These DIY canvas art ideas also make great gifts for grandparents or other family members.
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We wanted to share some ideas for creating keepsakes with your kids today. Then one day, when your kids are grown with families of their own, you’ll look back on these crafts and see how much fun you had together!
Grab a canvas, some paint, and a few other supplies and start creating. You’ll have a personalized piece of canvas art in no time flat. Check out our kids paint tips here!
Fun Handprint Canvas Art for Kids
Handprint Fish Canvas Painting: These handprint fish will look so cute in your child’s room. We added extra personal touches by making fingerprint bubbles and smaller fingerprint fish alongside the larger handprint ones.
Fire Truck Hand Art from The Inspiration Edit: Kids love fire trucks! This adorable piece of handprint art is perfect for decorating a fire truck-themed room or for giving as a gift for Father’s Day, especially if Dad is a fireman.
Kid-made Dinosaur Art from Simple Everyday Mom: If your preschooler or kindergartener is obsessed with dinosaurs, they’ll have a roaring good time with this dinosaur canvas art. They’ll make a cute stegosaurus that they can embellish with bright colors and fun patterns. Add some grasses, trees, and a volcano, and your prehistoric scene is set.
Space Rocket Painting Craft from The Inspiration Edit: Blast off with a space-themed handprint craft! Your little astronaut-in-training is sure to love seeing their handprints turned into flames that are shooting out of the rocket as it launches.
The Incredibles Superhero Keepsake Craft from Messy Little Monster: Do you love The Incredibles as much as we do? Imagine that you all have superpowers and make some of these superhero handprint crafts! Make one for each family member and hang them all up together to show that superfamilies stick together.
Keepsake Canvas Painting Ideas for Kids
Handprint Poem and Canvas Keepsake: Parents always appreciate their kids’ handprints alongside a sweet poem. These canvases will look so cute when they’re displayed. You can then add them to your child’s memory box for safekeeping.
You Are My Sunshine Keepsake from The Realistic Mama: You’ve probably sung the song You Are My Sunshine to your child many times over the years. Commemorate those sweet moments with this keepsake canvas featuring a bright yellow sun with its rays made out of your child’s handprints.
Yearly Handprint Canvas from Mama Papa Bubba: We love this creative way of commemorating your child’s growth. Make a handprint canvas every year on your child’s birthday to mark their hands at that very age. These canvases are pretty enough to display in your living room but would look cute in your child’s room, too.
Family Fingerprint Tree Keepsake: Create something beautiful together as a family. This autumn tree is a lovely choice. One child can make the handprint trunk, while all the other family members add their fingerprint leaves around the tree. If it’s springtime, you could make a cherry blossom tree that would be just as lovely.
→Are you following our TPT Shop? Check it out HERE! You’ll find creative learning activity printables and kids craft templates.
Fun Canvas Painting Ideas For Kids
1. Loop Watercolor
Painting patterns and designs can be even more interesting with loop painting. You must dab the ends of a rope or thick string on the desired watercolor and smear the ends on the canvas. You could make a pattern of smears – geometrical, concentric or linear. Or you might want to make a creature or an object with the loops smears. It is an easy and interesting way for kids to get their canvas look a little different.
Did you know?
Artists stored their paint in animal bladders until the paint tube was discovered in 1841.
2. Tape Collage
Why stick to a bland background? Make these canvas paintings for kids look striking with a dark background and a contrasting piece of art that stands out. Paint the canvas black. Then take duct tape in different sizes and stick them on the board in various shapes. Go all flowery or geometrical – it’s just what your kid wants to do. If you are using dark-colored duct tape, you might want to use a light background. It depends on how you want the tape collage to look like. Get your child to have fun pulling out, bending, turning, and pasting the tapes on the board. It is a simple and easy canvas painting for kids of all ages.
Related: 10 Easy DIY Spray Painting Ideas For Kids (With Images)
3. Notice Board
Your canvas will look more like a utility board with this one. Paint the background in a dark shade. Use strips of paper or any other torn papers, post-its, and white duct tapes and stick them on the board. Put up the board on the walls around the places that you pass by the most. You will be surprised with a notice or a reminder that your little one has left for you. You could also use it to discipline your kids and to keep your check lists.
4. A Photo frame
You could either paint or make little photo frames on the canvas. If you paint, have pasted cellophane or duct tape to hold the images on the canvas. If you wanted to get more ‘crafty’, you could use squares of cardboard with edges held by ice cream sticks. Stick these pockets on canvas. The canvas looks like a photo frame board that can be hung at just about any favorite corner of your house.
5. Canvas Letters
Kids could imprint their initials on the canvas. It will turn out to be brilliant for their bedrooms. And it’s quite a neat idea 😉 Here is all you will need to do. Get the canvas. Get a palette full of acrylic paints – in all the colors possible. You will need masking tape to make the monograms. Pull out the masking tape to make the initials of your children’s names. Stick it on the board. Use broad brushes for the coloring. It will be ideal to paint the background. Once that is done, ask the kids to streak, smear and fudge over the board in all color combinations. Let the paint dry. Once dry, you must peel off the duct tape. The impression of the initial left behind will look amazing on the canvas. It is a colorful and simple canvas painting ideas for kids that they can make by themselves.
Related: 10 Fun And Innovative Vegetable Paintings For Kids
6. Graffiti Canvas
Your kids could have an amazing graffiti masterpiece – even if they aren’t graffiti artists they could become one and later display them at an exhibition in their school gallery. Get pencils, marker pens, paints, sprays, scrappers, masking tape, and, of course, the canvas ready. Think of the word you want to write. Or simply re-create the following.
There are loads of other links on the internet that will help you become an expert graffiti artist on canvas.
Quick fact
Berlin Wall divided Berlin from 1961 through 1989. Later, the west siders covered the wall with Graffiti as a form of protest.
7. Doodle Patterns
Make patterns of ribbon, lockets, loops, or anything you can make with a thread. Simply make shapes with the help of threads. Dip the threads in the desired paints and imprint the doodles on the canvas. Don’t be surprised if your child comes up with cute little things like that of a butterfly or something more amusing.
8. Nature Science On Canvas
Transform the canvas into a zoology, botany or an entomology specimen keeper! It could be a good learning experience for kids as well. Gather a variety of flowers, leaves or stems. If you can find dead butterflies or grasshoppers, you might want to stick them too on the canvas. Your kids can learn the shapes, the colors, and – technically – the morphology of plants through this project. Who knows, stuff like this might turn out to be cool archives as they progress toward higher grades.
Related: 15 Cool And Simple Face Painting Ideas For Kids
9. Melted Crayon Art On Canvas
This is one of the top favorites of kids. Melted crayons on canvas are not only fun because they appear pretty, but also that the act of melting itself keeps kids all excited. Here’s how you should do it:
- Get your canvas, crayons, hot gun glue, and a hair dryer ready. You might also want to get old newspapers to keep out any mess on the walls or the floor. Make sure you too are wearing an apron and gloves to prevent wax smears on yourself.
- Arrange the crayons in the order that you want – let’s say all shades of one color juxtaposed with the shades of another. Rainbow colors are more popular with kids, though.
- Now unwrap the crayons (optional – some don’t unwrap them, and it still gives great results). Hot glue them to the top edge of the canvas. You could also cut the crayons into half and then stick them in as it will give a more natural look with the top few centimeters being less conspicuously lined with real crayons.
- Get the canvas stand or an easel against a wall in a slant position. (You will already have spread out the newspapers underneath to catch the spills).
- Now blow dry the crayons – with the dryer pointing downward (preferably). The crayons will start melting, and the melted wax will drip down. It will make an amazing sight 😉
- A heat gun could alternatively be used to do the job. It’s usually available at craft stores.
- Leave the white spaces empty or color them as per your wish. (I’d rather leave them out to accentuate the melted look).
10. Paint Blot On Canvas
This cool activity will blow your kids away with the prettiness. All that you will need is some blotting papers or kitchen paper towels that will absorb watercolors instantly. Just smudge them on the canvas or paste them once dry. You must be extremely careful with not tearing away the super-thin papers that are already soaked in paint, though. They will make a delightful combination of colors as the papers blend into canvas.
11. Sticky Bits On Canvas
Get chunks of confetti or colored papers torn or cut into irregular bits. Instead, if you find used or waste color papers, they could be put to good use now. Simply get a canvas painted in the desired background. Once dry, apply glue randomly. Throw the chunks on the canvas so they stick in. After a while, shake out the bits that haven’t dried, and should you want to try sticking them again in the empty spaces. You might also want to spray-paint or past shimmers on the empty spaces. It will turn out to be quite a starry collage.
12. Pom Pom On Canvas
How about gluing out pom poms on canvas in the desired pattern? The more diverse the colors, the more interesting it will be for kids to do this activity. They could as well paste the alphabet or numbers through pom poms. Both learning and fun at one go!
Quick tip
Cotton and linen are commonly used on canvases. While linen is the best due to its quality of surface and durability, cotton is a more affordable option.
13. Buttons On Canvas
Or stick an assortment of buttons on canvas for the desired shapes and colors! This kids canvas painting helps them to explore their inner creativity.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the benefits of canvas paintings for children?
Canvas paintings offer numerous benefits for children. They encourage creativity and self-expression, allowing children to explore their imagination and develop confidence in their artistic abilities. Painting on canvas also aids in developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. It promotes problem-solving and decision-making skills as children make creative choices. Additionally, canvas painting serves as a therapeutic outlet for emotional expression and relaxation, fostering emotional well-being.
3. What are the different types of paints used in canvas painting?
Different paints can be used to create different effects on the canvas. Some commonly used paints on canvas are acrylic, oil, watercolor, pastel, spray, and Gouache.
4. What kind of brushes should I use for canvas painting?
Similar to the choice of paints, different brushes can also be chosen to achieve different effects on the canvas. Some commonly used paint brushes for painting on a canvas are round brushes, flat brushes, fan brushes, filbert brushes, bright brushes, mop brushes, and detail brushes.
5. How do I clean my brushes after painting?
The brush cleaning process depends on the medium you have used to paint with. You should use a liquid solvent to remove the paint you have used. For example, if you paint with watercolors, you can use water to clean your brushes. If you use acrylic paints, you can clean your brushes with a paint thinner or turpentine, depending on the solvent’s availability.
6. How do I take care of my finished canvas painting?
Some steps you can take to preserve the beauty of your canvas painting are to allow sufficient time for drying the paint while protecting it from the direct sun rays. If you are moving it, make sure to handle it with care, and if dust settles on the surface, clean it very carefully. When you store it, try to put it in a place free of extreme temperatures and humidity. Finally, get your painting framed professionally and put it in a designated spot on the wall where it will be safe but accessible.
7. Can I paint on canvas with acrylics and oils together?
Though not commonly done, it is possible, and special techniques must be employed while working with oil and acrylic paints simultaneously. A few things you must remember while using these mediums is to paint in layers, as both have different drying times. Ensure one layer is completely dry before you use the other. Clean your brushes well when switching between mediums, and add a coat of varnish once the painting is complete.
Teaching canvas painting to kids inspires creativity and skill development, fosters inspiration, gives them freedom of expression, and enhances their cognitive abilities. You may give step-by-step painting instructions to make them learn the basic painting techniques. Loop watercolor, tape collage, notice board, a photo frame, canvas letters, and doodle patterns are some of the easiest paintings to learn. Buttons, sticky bits, and pom poms can be glued to canvas to create letters or shapes. Melted crayons and paint blots can also be done on a canvas. Kids may also use canvas to keep their botany, zoology, or entomology specimens. They may also gift it to someone with similar interests.
Infographic: Creative Canvas Painting Ideas For Children
Children have colorful imaginations and thus love piling their ideas onto papers and canvases. Painting allows children to express their emotions and use multiple senses and fine motor movements while navigating and understanding the concepts of the color wheel. The infographic below highlights creative canvas painting ideas to help bring their imagination to life.
Get high-quality PDF version by clicking below.
