Water paint is the least stressful kids’ painting activity out there!
How to Paint with Water
What You'll Find on This Page
Now that we are well into summer, I am always looking for easy summer fun for kids! Water painting is one of the simplest activities, and my kids love it!
This fun classic children’s activity is low prep and low mess. You don’t even have to provide proper paint brushes – if you look closely you will see that my girls are painting with dried out bamboo from our little garden!
I love this activity because it gets kids outside, helps them think creatively, but is also a very forgiving art form.
Painting on a vertical surface (like our sliding door) is also a great way to start a conversation about gravity!
Painting on concrete shows up really well, and kids can work together to create big art.
The hotter the day, the more quickly their art vanishes! Give your kids large paintbrushes and encourage them to “paint” the house with water – it’s a great gross motor exercise!
More Summer Fun
Here are a few more low-key activities we are enjoying:
- Go on a walk, but let the kids lead the way. You can also try a scavenger hunt, or pretend that you are on a quest, looking for clues. Kids need very little encouragement to let their imaginations run wild!
- Blow bubbles
- Go geocaching
- Enjoy washable sidewalk paint
- Look for nature’s camouflage
- Try sensory play with this easy-to-hose-off outdoor sensory activity
- Paint big art outdoors
- Swing!
- Visit a Farmer’s Market
- Play in the sprinkler!
- Enjoy classic childhood games
- DIY sandbox
We spend as much time as possible outdoors in the summer, but sometimes it is too hot, too rainy, or a sibling is napping so we are stuck indoors. Here are our favorite indoor summer activities:
- Play dough
- Pretend play
- Reading books you can find our favorites here
- Painting
- Drawing
- Visiting museums
- Sewing
- Playing with pattern blocks
- Playing with LEGO bricks
- Playing with Spielgaben
What are your favorite low-key summer activities for kids?
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Emma looks so contemplative in that bottom picture.
What a wonderful list of resources! We need to explore them.
We have this Zen board where you paint with water and then it dries and disappears. What a good reminder to paint with water. It’s fun and relaxing!
I’m curious about those bamboo brushes. Do you do anything special to the tip?
Outside is fun but we tend to go out later when it gets cooler but I forgot about the sprinkler. That is an easy, fun, and cool one. Thanks for all the suggestions!
Nothing special – they are dried out, though. I’m not sure how fresh bamboo would work.
Geocaching is our new favorite thing! The kids also did a little painting outside the other day. It’s not Summer here, but when the sun is shining, it’s sometimes warmer outside than in!
Geocaching is one of our favorites as well! Such a fun spin on the traditional treasure hunt!
That looks like so much fun!!
I could see your kids really enjoying it in a few months, once we’re all bundled up for winter :)
You really can’t beat bubbles and sprinklers :)
You can’t! Classic play is the best!
Bubbles and paper planes are very popular here!
Johnny is our resident paper plane expert!