Invitation to Paint a House

We've got process art and role play all rolled into one with this fun painting activity!

Canvas house painting.

What you need:
- canvas
- permanent black marker
- acrylic paint

- decorating paint kit (we got ours from Dollar Tree)
- role play construction helmet

Decorating paint kits.

How it works:

My kids got so excited as soon as they saw this set up! Depending on the age of your kids, you can either draw a house for them to paint on the canvas (which is what I did for baby sis), or they can draw their own house (which is what big bro did). Be sure to use permanent marker.

I showed big bro the house I had drawn on baby sis' canvas as a helping guide for him. I love the fact that straight away he got to work on creating his own unique style of 'crazy haunted house'.

Adding details to his house.

Using the house I drew for inspiration.

Once the house outlines were finished, we headed outside and got everything set up.

The set up.

The fun addition of plastic helmets and mini decorating paint kits meant that my kids were totally engaged in the activity. Anything new to paint with always increases the fun factor!

Testing out the helmets.

A big part of this activity was giving my kids the freedom to paint their houses however they wished. Hence I put out our full selection of paint colours (brave I know!). I showed them how to squirt paint into their trays, as well as how to use the roller and that was it. The rest was up to them!

Big bro decorating with the roller.

Baby sis exploring the materials.

Big bro opted for a bright and beautiful haunted house, while baby sis surprisingly went traditional with a grey base coat! They both enjoyed using the different types of brushes, as well as adding detail to different parts of their houses.

Hard at work.

Using the large brush.

Granted the finished houses were far from neat masterpieces, but that was never the aim of this activity. Both kids loved pretending to be decorators and totally immersed themselves in the role. There was so much conversation with big bro about how he was painting his house.

Mr. decorator!

They sure were proud of their finished houses! We enjoyed continued role play all afternoon with the helmets!

My two little decorators.

Once the paintings dry I'd recommend going over the permanent marker again as it does fade with the layer of paint. Have fun with your little decorators!