We all would love to inspire a baby artist to have an early love for painting (and we all want it to be as least messy as possible!) Let me introduce you to the genius of high chair paintings! All the color and fun and practically zero of the cleanup. I first decided to try this method when I wanted our 9 month old baby to make a painting for her Dad (who is an artist himself) for his birthday. The only paints available at our house at the time were artist quality watercolors and acrylics. Beautiful colors but definitely non-washable and there was no way I was going to let those busy little fingers at that paint. I simply dabbed paint right from the tube onto a piece of watercolor paper, and slipped it into a large ziplock bag. Voila! She was making gorgeous paintings worthy of framing. This makes a wonderful Valentines gift that you can frame for your partner. If you are using watercolors make sure to wet the paper well first under running water (this way the watercolors can blend together easily) For this tutorial I’ve used a set of non toxic acrylics, gold craft paint and sparkle glue on a dry piece of watercolor paper. You can also mix and match and use whatever you have on hand.
Materials
Instructions
Get creative, choose a color scheme that you like and be sure to ask your baby to point to the colors she wants to use.
Dab the paint around the middle of the paper, close enough that they will blend together.
Carefully place into a ziplock bag (this is a masterpiece in progress after all)
Gently press out the air and seal the ziplock tightly (baby may throw the ziplock or drop multiple times on the floor, this is all part of their artistic process)
Encourage baby to move the paint with her fingers, or smack her hand on the canvas. My baby enjoyed using a popsicle stick to move the paint around. You could even use a toy car or a ball to move the paint. Whatever is fun and works to keep them interested.
Once baby signals that this activity is now over, gently open the ziplock and pull the plastic from the paint, and lift out of the ziplock. I let mine dry flat on top of the fridge for a day.
Call your friends and exclaim that there is a budding artist in the family! Because they are truly beautiful and framed look so amazing. When people ask who is the artist of this painting on your wall? You can say ‘oh yeah my baby painted that…’
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