Kids Painting Ideas Outdoors

Painting outdoors - simple brilliant ideas to get outdoors and paint with kids without any complicated preparation #painting #processart #outdoors #letkidsbekids #creativekids #playoutdoors

Outdoor painting activities let kids get creative whilst enjoying all the benefits of being outside.

And I have here a huge collection of super fun ideas for outdoor painting for children of all ages including :

It includes outdoor painting ideas for toddlers but also cool paint outside ideas for high energy older kids.

Enjoy!

Table of Contents

Outdoor Spray & Splatter Painting Ideas For Kids

Outdoor Painting Ideas For Kids - Splatter & Spray Painting

These outdoor spray painting ideas for kids are super-fun for a summer’s day but need almost no prep :

Spray painting is of course messy but that’s the joy of painting outside. Just hose kids down at the end!!

Squirt Gun Spray Painting

Spray painting outdoors with squirt guns is an awesome high energy way for kids to paint outdoors creatively.

It’s low-prep summer fun but with one primary colour per gun it’s a cool colour mixing lesson in the sun.

Spray painting outdoors is a fab way for kids to do really big art on old sheets or leftover wallpaper.

But kids could also spray paint a canvas to create a DIY gift.

Spray Bottle Painting

If you don’t have water pistols kids can paint outdoors with any spray bottles you have to hand.

Toddlers do need supervising with this outside paint activity but it is great squeezing grip practice.

Spray Painting With Syringes

If you have any plastic syringes in a science kit or dressing up box you could also use them to spray paint.

It’s a super creative way to explore pressure by seeing who can spray paint furthest up the garden!!

Splatter Painting Outdoors With Brushes

Simple splatter painting is the easiest no-prep outdoor painting activity for kids. Toddlers love it but so do older kids and it’s a cool way to introduce Jackson Pollock’s art.

For an extra twist create shapes or e.g. letters or words with masking tape and splatter paint on top.

Splatter Painting Outdoors With Balloons

Splatter balloon painting is a gloriously messy outdoor sensory activity for toddlers and pre-k.

It’s a lovely squelchy way for little children to build squeezing grip.

Splatter Painting Outdoors With Pipettes

Kindergarten kids and older can have fine motor fun outdoors splatter painting with pipettes.

Drop Splat Painting

You can have fun exploring gravity with could-not-be-simpler drop splat painting but it is also a brilliant outdoor paint activity for toddlers when they are obsessed by steps!!!

Ping Pong Shooter Splatter Painting Outdoors

This outdoor painting activity for kids takes a bit of prep but kids can help make the ping pong shooters.

And they can create really fun art whilst exploring forces by shooting at different distances and speeds.

Catapult Splatter Painting

For a big outdoor painting activity to keep older kids entertained longer try catapult painting.

They will need to build the catapult but then even toddlers can join in.

Sidewalk Chalk Painting

Outdoor Painting Ideas For Kids - Chalk Paint Sidewalk Painting

Chalk painting outdoors on the sidewalk or in a backyard takes simple chalking to a new level.

It really lets kids get creative.

And gives them a chance to make their own super cool outdoor paints whilst doing fun science …

Kids can of course just paint away outdoors to their hearts content but if creativity flags try these ideas :

Homemade Sidewalk Paint With Old Chalk

Kids can make chalk paint fast by :

Putting old chalk bits in a baggie
Smashing with toy hammer
Mixing little-by-little with water
And food colouring.

Homemade Sidewalk Paint With Cornstarch

If you are painting outside with toddlers who still eat everything make sidewalk paint by mixing :

1 tablespoon cornstarch (aka corn flour in UK & Australia) with
1.5 tablespoons of water
1/2 teaspoon of food colouring.

Mix your paints in patty tins. Even tiny toddlers can help.

Puffy Sidewalk Paint

Puffy sidewalk paint gives some texture to kids outside artwork. Again it is super easy to make, mix :

1 cup ordinary flour
1 tablespoon washing up liquid
Roughly 1 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of food colour

Outdoor Fizzy Paint

Add some science to your sidewalk art with this DIY fizzy outdoor paint.

Kids can make any outdoor art fizz but it is very cool with pictures of :

Volcanos
The sun & fiery planets
Roaring dragon
Campfires.

Ice Chalk Outdoor Paint

For more scientific-art fun, freeze chalk paint in an ice cube tray in advance. Then try painting with your ice cubes on oiled paper. You’ll get all sorts of pretty patterns because the ice and oil won’t mix.

Sidewalk Tape Resistant Art

If you do want a more structured sidewalk painting idea, simply whip out a roll of masking or sticky tape.

Use it to mark out shapes, paint over it and when paint dry whip tape off.

Kids can use the technique to paint :

Letters
Names
Words
Houses & streets
Mosaics & more.

Sidewalk Shadow Art

This sidewalk shadow art is a lovely outdoor painting idea for toddlers and up which lets kids explore body shape whilst getting creative outside.

Painting With Trikes, Cars & Other Moving Objects

Outdoor Painting Ideas For Kids - Cars, Trikes & Trucks

Painting with toys that move is a brilliant outdoor painting activity for kids and especially toddlers.

It offers creative mark making and colour mixing but is also a high energy gross motor activity.

You can use all sorts of wheeled and moving toys including :

And you could even paint the real car with washable paint!!

Painting With Trikes

If you have leftover wall paper kids will love riding over it with painted trike or ride on wheels.

Painting With Toy Cars

Little kids can easily while away a whole happy afternoon outdoors painting with toy cars …

And you can even turn clear up into a fun outdoor activity by putting the cars through a car wash …

Painting With Trucks

Trucks with big patterned tyres are brilliant for outdoor painting as they make such great marks.

Again this is a wonderful way to work imaginative play into some fairly high energy creative art.

Outdoor Painting With Rolling Balls

Little kids and especially toddlers are fascinated by movement so rainbow painting outside with rolling balls will have them gripped …

Rolling Rock Painting

If you don’t have spare balls for ball painting you can also do rolling rock painting – carefully – outside.

Gutter Ball Painting

Or if you have some old guttering, toddlers – and older kids – will have hours of fun outside rolling painty balls down the pipe …

Painting With Slinkies

For some totally different movement mark-making take slinkies outside and paint with them.

Rock Painting With Kids

Outdoor Painting Ideas For Kids - Rock Painting

Rock painting outdoors with kids is a lovely way to be creative outside when it is too hot to move.

It’s a fun outdoor painting activity for toddlers but comes into its own with older kids who can do detail.

There are loads of rock painting ideas here for everything from monsters & bugs to fairy doors …

I love both these funny faces …

And for a complete contrast these super simple but pretty patterns …

Outdoor Decorating Ideas

Decorating for real with kids is often not – let’s be honest – the best idea.

But there are lots of fun things kids can enjoy “decorating” outside e.g :

Big Box Painting For Kids

A big pile of boxes to paint outdoors has to be one of the easiest ways to give kids the space to have fun.

And even more so with all sorts of different painting instruments e.g.

Big brushes
Tiny brushes
Paint rollers
Sponges
Dish brushes
Squeezy bottles
Or anything to make marks with …

With toddlers and little kids the box doesn’t need to “be” anything. But older kids could use boxes to build :

Houses
Boats
Trains
Cars
Fire engines
Rockets
Or even a birthday cake …

Fence Painting For Kids

If you’ve got a grotty backyard fence, you could just let your kids paint it:

Or if you’re not that brave let them paint the fence – without paint 😉

Plant Pot Painting For Kids

Kids can transform any old plant pots skulking outside in the garden with just a few splodges of paint.

Toddlers will happily just splatter paint but older kids could be uber creative with these plant pot ideas.

Painting The Car With Washable Paint

What could possibly be more fun for a big gang of kids on the street than painting a car every colour possible!!

Obviously, the paint must be washable and everyone needs to help out afterwards with the car wash but that’s a pretty lovely lesson in clearing up after ourselves.

Foot & Stomp Painting Outdoors For Toddlers

Foot Painting Outdoors

Outdoor Painting Ideas For Toddlers - Foot Painting

Foot painting is a super fun no-prep outdoor painting idea for toddlers.

And yes it’s messy but feet painting is a lovely way for toddlers to :

Explore colour mixing and
Practise balance.

Stomp Painting Outside Activity For Toddlers

For slightly less mess but loads of sensory fun try this stomp painting activity for toddlers outdoors.

Nature Painting Outdoors For Children

Outdoor Painting Ideas For Kids - Nature Painting

Painting outdoors is a fun way to engage kids of all ages with nature.

Even tiny toddlers will enjoy painting with these backyard finds :

Petal Painting

Kids can add fallen petals to their paintings for lovely petal pictures.

Cutting the petals is a fabulous fine motor activity for little children.

Nature Collages

Bird nest collage - simple bird nest collages using water colour painting and natural resources #birds #nests #painting #collage #nature #naturelover #habitat #STEAM

Any little outdoor finds can be added to nature painting collages.

This bird nest collage using bits of cup up stick, straw, feather and seeds was a wonderful way to explore nest building.

Nature Paint Brushes

Kids can actually use their outdoor finds e.g. flowers, leaves, reeds, sticks etc as nature paint brushes.

Different kinds of pine leaves make really excellent DIY nature paint brushes for outdoor painting.

Feather Painting

Painting with features - a super simple natural craft for children #painting #feathers #nature #lovenature #naturecrafts #birds

Any fallen feathers you find outside in the garden, park or beach are wonderful for feather painting.

Children of all ages – toddlers and up – can achieve all sorts of lovely effects. Swishing painty feathers is great for flexible wrist rotation.

Mud Painting

Kids love mud so what could be more fun outside than mud painting?

Mud paint is literally just dirt, water & food colour stirred with a stick.

But it’s a lovely outdoor play activity to tie in with for example :

Julia Donaldson’s Cave Baby
Exploring cave art
Learning about types of soil.

Leaf Painting

Leaf painting is obviously a lovely outdoor activity for kids in autumn but painting with green leaves in spring and summer is just as fun.

It is a great way to explore the shape and structure of leaves with kids.

Pine Cone Painting

When autumn comes it may not be warm enough to paint outside but you can get kids outdoors to collect fir cones & conkers for fun painting activities when they get home.

Plein Air Landscape Painting With Kids

Outdoor painting with kids is not – as we’ve seen – at all complicated.

And one of the easiest ideas for painting outdoors with kids is simply to plonk them down somewhere in your town and let them start landscape – plein air – painting.

It is not about fancy technique or art history, just the freedom and space for kids to paint the world they see.

I do hope you enjoyed all these ideas for painting outdoors with kids & have fun with them.

For more easy ways to get kids outdoors check out these posts :

And for more fun painting ideas for kids follow me on Pinterest …