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We started the tradition last year of painting together every month, and we are having a ton of fun continuing the tradition this year.

After we gutted my craft studio to prepare for new carpet & to stage the home for selling, we painted 2 paintings in a row for March & April. With the strict cleanliness requirements for selling a home, I didn’t want to try to paint while we’re trying to sell. But I also didn’t want to miss one of our paintings. The kids loved the double-header. And little man was in the mood to join us for one painting. After he painted the canvas, the plate was his next masterpiece. He keeps us entertained.

Finding our painting inspiration. I’ve mentioned before that I get ideas about what to paint with my kids from googling images. I search for different things depending on our mood. After a very abstract painting in February, I wanted to paint a recognizable image, so I searched “kid paintings”, “kid paintings owls”, and “kid paintings flowers”.

You can see the pictures we found and used –

And typical for this child, she is always the last one painting. She is really into the details and loves the process. She relishes every minute and I love it.

People may have deserted the table while Michelle still worked, but we didn’t leave her alone in the room. You can also see in this picture how different the room looks. This is the corner that is usually covered in work tops that you’ve seen in the previous month’s photos.

Here are the masterpieces for March and April. I love seeing the personality behind each painting!

Oh, let’s not forget little man’s contribution. Beautiful.

We had so much fun talking and painting. It really is the best kind of bonding. We’re all busy painting, so everyone is relaxed and the conversation just flows even for the introverts.

Tips for Making it Easier at Home

Use a stencil. Often, I will cut out some stencils on my Silhouette. We put the vinyl on our canvas’ and then paint inside. After we paint, we pull the vinyl off.
Search for simplified paintings or cartoon images to imitate.
Setup in a place where a paint spill could be cleaned up, so you won’t feel anxious while you paint … and use a plastic tablecloth on the table!

Supplies you Need

Though we have easels for everyone, we decided pretty quickly that they got in the way, especially from seeing each other. We also figured out that paper plates were less messy than palettes. Here’s the basic stuff you need:

Paint Shirts (I use an assortment of my husband’s old shirts for my kids, but my paint shirt is a Bob Ross shirt that says “no mistakes – just happy accidents”.)
Acrylic Paints (The inexpensive little bottles at the craft stores work great or you can also get them in paint bundles on Amazon.)
Paper Plates (Easier to clean than paint palettes.)
Plastic Tablecloth (I re-use these a few months until there are holes in it. I just decided to upgrade to this vinyl tablecloth when I realized we could use it for a few years, if not longer.)
Paint Brushes (You’ll want multiple brush sizes. A brush starter set is good at the beginning, and if you get into it, you’ll collect more brushes along the way.)
8 x 10 Canvases (This is a great size for regular use. I like to save money buying the canvas bundles on Amazon.)
Old Jar (This is to put the used and dirty paint brushes before washing.)

Join in and share in our group!! I’m going to start a thread in our Facebook group in a few days where we can all share pictures of our painting-with-kid adventures. (Search “A Year of Painting With Kids” in the discussion.) I hope you’ll join in!!

What will you paint this month?

From my home to yours,
Mary