Spring Greeting Cards with Wet on Wet Watercolor

This process based art play is a great way for your 2-6 year old to experience color without focusing about lines and shapes. The wet paint dances across the wet paper beautifully as the young artist leads its movement.

Materials

• 3-5 watercolor paint colors thinned with water (we used dark green, light green, pastel pink and pastel yellow)
• Watercolor greeting cards (we use Strathmore brand—but you can make your own with watercolor paper)
• 3-5 jars to hold watery paint, each with its own brush.

Instructions

2. Set up the paint play invitation by taping flat cards to a table and wetting them with a sponge.
3. Model the possibilities of how to use the materials
4. Let your child explore color.
5. Your child can be invited to draw on top of the cards with crayon or colored pencil when the paint is dry.

I leave a project like this set up for an entire day or longer. Mr. 3.5 leaves and comes back to it several times.

Process Over Product

Art play for children is about the process, not the product. When your child is “done”, the paper could look different than you envisioned it would. Celebrate their process for what it is.

Have fun!