Inside: Create rainbow art painting projects perfect for spring or to bring the outdoors inside using Q-tips for Pointillism art.
During spring and summer, my kids love being outside.
We plant in our garden and love watching our flowers pop up.
We head outside for neighborhood walk scavenger hunts.
And my youngest daughter who is madly in love with unicorns and rainbows is always on the hunt for real unicorns and rainbows.
Sadly, she has never been able to successfully track down a unicorn (not for a lack of trying though.) But she has, of course, seen a rainbow. In fact, one lucky time, she saw a double rainbow after a huge storm.
After spending time outdoors, when its time to come back indoors, we always try to continue their love of being outside with art projects when it’s time to be indoors.
So when we’re having a quiet day indoors due to inclement weather or a break from the summer heat, we love painting what we love to see outdoors: rainbows and flower gardens.
And this rainbow art painting for kids is the perfect activity.
What is Pointillism Art?
When I was in college and took the mandated Art History courses, I discovered and then fell in love with Pointillism.
Maybe it’s because it reminded me of those Hidden Magic Eye Puzzles from the 90s.
My professor showed us a tiny, zoomed-in piece of art and all we saw was dots.
Little tiny dots.
Then he zoomed it out to the gloriousness that is A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
And once I saw the painting hanging in the Art Insitute of Chicago, I was sold.
The tiny dots that magically turn into gorgeous art is mesmerizing.
I ran across the street from the museum and bought my tiny daughter the board book, Sunday With Seurat
And when my kids were older, we graduated to these kid-friendly art history books on Seurat.
This awesome YouTube Video of Art with Mati and Dada and Seurat is a great way to further explain Pointillism to our kids.
If you have younger kids who don’t have the fine motor skills for Q-tips, get them these Dot a Dot Art Markers and they can create their own art.
And since we love being outside and enjoying nature and I love Pointillism, we connect the outside with this nature art painting projects made entirely out of dots.
Want more books to connect to this project?
Here are our favorite nature books:
Mrs. Peanuckle’s Flower Alphabet
Bee: A Peek Through Picture Book
Supplies Needed to Make Rainbow Art Painting with Pointillism
- small canvas or cardstock paper for cards
- Q-tips
- green, red, yellow, gold and blue acrylic paint (tempra paint is fine for the cardstock paper)
- pencil
How to Make Rainbow Art Painting with Pointillism
1. For rainbows, lightly draw a rainbow on your canvas with a pencil leaving space between each line so there’s room for the dots.
2. Dip a Q-tip into the red paint and one dot at a time, outline the first rainbow arc.
If you are using acrylic paint, let your kids know it’s “forever paint” for clothes.
And remind your kids not to smear the paint by using the Q-tip like a paintbrush. Instead, show them how they can make tiny dots close together to make it appear like a line was formed.
3. Continue with each of the rainbow arcs until you finish with purple.
4. You can add clouds at the bottom of the rainbow or leave it as is.
5. If you want to create a different outdoor image, your kids can create a garden scene. My daughter decided not to draw a picture ahead of time. She wanted to “free-hand” paint. She started in the corner with the sun.
6. She added stems at the bottom of the canvas and then started painting different types of colorful flowers.
7. She added in clouds and butterflies and a bee to her art scene.
8. She then added in light green over the stems and leaves and grass to add some shading. She added orange over the yellow sun for the same effect.
9.You can use these art projects and hang them in bedrooms as decor or give them away as gifts to friends or family.
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