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Children love to get messy and play in things that can cause a big mess. Painting is one way for them to do that. It’s fun, it’s messy and it can help your smaller children learn their colors as well.

How to Play

* Large drop cloth
* Paint shirts
* White poster board
* Paints in basic colors
* Paintbrushes

Lay your drop cloth down on a table or even the floor. If it’s nice outside, take it out and lay it across the sidewalk or an area of the yard that is flat. Be sure your drop cloth is large enough to cover the space you’re working in. This will keep the paint from staining anything.

Once you have the drop cloth down have all the children cover themselves with a paint shirt. It needs to be an old shirt that will cover them from the neck down. Don’t worry they will think it’s great fun to put on one of Mom or Dad’s old shirt so there won’t be any fussing over that.

Give each child their own poster board, paint and paintbrush. If they each have their own they won’t fight about someone using the color they wanted or because someone is in their space on the board.

Now let them go at it. Ask them to paint a yellow flower or a blue sky. Maybe they like animals so tell them to paint a brown dog or an orange cat - anything they can relate to and would enjoy doing. The color is most important so be sure to pick basic colors that are bright and vibrant.

Be sure the kids all say the color as they are painting their pictures. Talk to them about why the grass is green or how apples can be green, yellow or red. Teach them that colors are important and how colors set items apart from one another.

After their little lesson just let them have some fun with their paints. As you watch them, ask them what colors they are using and why. Give them a chance to use their imaginations and enjoy their learning experience while playing and having fun too.