What can you do for those rainy days when your kids can’t go outside but you want to have fun together? Why not take it as an opportunity to do an art lesson or teach a new art skill? Art is fun when it’s stress free, and if you let your children be creative, they will love being able to explore the things they can create. Use this Big List of Rainy Day Art Activities to get you inspired!
Why not try giving them the materials and simply showing them by your example a few possibilities…then let them try on their own. Better yet, just start doing art yourself, and you can bet they will want to get in on the experience.
You don’t have to be an art expert to do this. In fact, at a beginner’s level it’s mostly about learning what different mediums and materials can do and beginning to see things like an artist. I hope this will be a list you can visit often to get you started when you feel the urge to add art to your homeschool and just need an idea to begin!
Do stamping with paints. Use different types of things to create new textures and techniques. Some possibilities are sponges, tooth brushes, cut veggies, Q-tips, etc. Example- Pointillism with Q-Tips
Make animal paintings using Q tips. Paint a simple animal shape and add dots. You can make snakes, cheetahs, turtles, frogs, etc.
Make your own prints with Styrofoam and block ink. If you don’t have block ink you can just use thick paint. Make an impression in the styrofoam and then cover with ink or paint. Stamp your image on paper.
Make your own homemade art stamps with blocks and foam sheets. See how I made my own geography stamps.
Make your own scratch painting. Paint a whole sheet of paper then use end of forks, paint scrapers, pencils, back of paint brushes, etc. to make an image. Basically you draw the image into the paint by scratching the paint off. It removes some of the paint leaving an image. Try flowers, designs and more.
Numerous simple and affordable art lessons are available online. It doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to explore art in your homeschool.
Rainy Day Multimedia Ideas:
Create your own dress up and play items with paper mache. You can make hats and so much more!
Use text as texture by combining drawings and old text from books, magazines or newspaper.
Use pastels or chalk to draw or use white chalk on dark paper. Add a second medium to the project.
Use bubble wrap and other types of texture creating materials to paint texture. Then use the painted textures to make collages and layered projects. Even the simplest images can be beautiful when you use multi media in layers.
Imitate the work of an artist using more than one medium! Here’s a favorite recreation lesson of Hokusai’s the Big Wave.
Make homemade silhouettes. Use two types of paper to create a multimedia effect. All you need to do is cast a good profile shadow and trace. Cut out and post creatively to interesting background.
Make mosaics. Any media is possible from paper, tiles, buttons, and more! Be creative and use what you have!
Paper hearts and other shapes can be sewn in layers and added to embellish gifts, wall decor, and other endless projects.
Make your own paper from recycled material.
Cut paper “snowflakes” but use colored paper, then after they are created cut them into different shapes or use stencils to cut them out into shapes to make animals. For example, cut into a circle and use it as a turtle shell overlay for a painted, drawn, or cut out turtle body.
You can make so many things with tissue paper from stain glass projects to flowers!
Create paper crafts with a theme and use to decorate your homeschool or special nook! Example: Music Nook Paper Crafts
Have fun together making puppets or figures for a favorite book and then have your children retell the story with them.
See what you can make from what’s in your recycle bin! Masks, puppets, craft animals, homemade instrumentsand more.
Acrylics are great for kids because they are water based. They are easy to clean up if still wet. Once dry, however, they adhere to any surface which makes them great for painting different glass items such as jars, tiles, rocks, wood panels, etc.
There are so many more rainy day art activities you could do. This is just a start! Art is something we don’t always have time for and it’s a little harder to fit in. So, on a rainy day it’s a great way to have fun with your children and to get a break from the homeschool norm.
What art ideas would you add to the list? Do you teach art in your homeschool? Or do you outsource or find great resources to complete the art portion of your homeschool elsewhere? If so, we’d love you to share your ideas!
Stephanie was a military spouse for 20 years and is a veteran homeschooler. She developed numerous homeschool curriculum freebies and notebooking pages as well as art unit studies for local homeschool co-ops. She is currently a master gardener and is pursuing a degree in horticulture. She is also starting a non-profit organization in memory of her daughter which empowers artists with mental illnesses and supports their families.
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * Welcome to the Hip Homeschool Hop! Thank you for linking up with us on our Hip Homeschool Hop! We’re glad to have you. And if you’re here to take a look around and find some fun topics, good information, ideas, or support, we’re glad…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * This week we’re featuring printables and activities related to the 50 states! You’ll find resources for individual states and for groups of states (for example–some states may be grouped by area of the country). We hope you enjoy these and find them helpful! If…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * One of my family’s Thanksgiving Day traditions is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We enjoy watching the people, listening to the bands, seeing the performers, and looking for fun balloons. We spend some time feeling bad for the people who aren’t dressed warmly…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * While many families around the United States will be trick or treating on October 31st, our family has chosen to celebrate an event in Church history that is worth remembering. On October 31, 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * Kid Garden Phonics is a program designed to use fine and large muscle movement along with phonics to teach children to read in a fun way. It also teaches the American Sign Language alphabet. It teaches according to the Montessori principle that movement is…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * Create something out of nothing with scribble art. There is nothing more fun than making art from a scribble. The thing I like most about these funny little mixed up scribble creatures is that they are whimsical and clearly imaginary. One thing I feel…
These are awesome ideas! Thanks so much!