Over the last year I’ve done a lot of painting with Herbie. He’s everything from painting on he floor wearing nothing but his nappy, to sitting at my desk and painting with watercolours in a sketchbook. I talk to a lot of parents who say they would love to do painting with their toddlers but they don’t know where to start, so I thought I would share some of my top tips. I am not an expert, but I’m an artist and mum and this is what has worked for us.

Try paint

One of the first art materials we normally give toddlers is chunky crayons because they are easy to hold and they don’t make too much of a mess, however I just don’t think they are that satisfying for a baby or toddler to use. You have to press really hard to get any kind of colour pay off. Applying pressure whilst also moving the crayon is hard work and your little one might get frustrated or bored. Especially given that crayons children tend to be very cheaply made and lacking in pigment. Painting on the other hand is much easier as you don’t need to apply any pressure, just sweep a loaded brush across the paper. They will get a much more vibrant colour and a chunkier line, both of which will be more satisfying to a young child.

Having tried a few different things I personally find a large child’s set of watercolours is the least stressful way for toddlers to paint. It’s less messy than poster paints and easy to use, you just need to guide your toddler to dip the brush into the water, then let them choose their colour, and encourage them to mix mix mix to pick up some colour, then place it on the paper. Cleanup is easy, when you’re finished just close the lid of the paint set and rinse the brushes. No need to clean up lots of wet paint that’s already been squeezed out of tubes or possibly smeared across the table.

Kids poster paints are great too, if a little bit more messy. Poster paints are particularly good if you’re painting with a baby, as they don’t even have to use a brush, they can just get in there with their hands or one of those spongy brush things.

Prepare for mess

Of course things are going to get messy when you are doing art with a toddler. I think it’s finding a balance between keeping things fun for your toddler and letting them explore and experiment, whilst also keeping the mess within limits that you are happy with.

There are things you can do, like putting paint and paper inside a sealed plastic bag and letting your child smoosh it around, for mess free painting, but I’m not sure how satisfying that actually is for a child, since you’re missing most of the joy of actually painting. Painting is a sensory activity. If you’re planning to do painting with your toddler or baby just be prepared, put them in old clothes and a long sleeved apron, or if the weather is warm nothing but a nappy or pants works great. If you have carpets you can always paint on the kitchen floor, which is what we used to do. I also put down some big oil cloth mats to contain the mess.

The other thing to consider is what you will be wearing! I have been caught out by this one so many times. Herbie is wearing old clothes and an apron, and I’m wearing a brand-new pink jumper, he enthusiastically waves a paintbrush around and I am covered in paint. It has happened too many times, when will I learn?? Also don’t believe the children’s paint that claims that it is washable. I got these crayola poster paints for Herbie, and whilst these are lovely paints to use and non-toxic, they are definitely not washable. They have permanently stained a pair of jeans that I’ve been to the wash many, many times, so proceed with caution.

Let your child take the lead

If you want your children to enjoy being creative then you’ve got to let them take the lead (within reason, obviously you need boundaries like ‘paint stays on the paper’). Let them follow their instincts and choose the colours they want and apply them the way they want to. Maybe they’ll paint big, maybe they’ll paint small, maybe they will have a brush in each hand, maybe they have a whole array of beautiful colours to use and they only want to use brown! Just go with it and let them follow their creative instincts. Trying to micromanage them will only lead to frustration. Make a sure it’s about their process, rather than your outcome. There are lots of cute projects on Pinterest that involve using your child’s hand or footprint to make a reindeer or penguin or some such, these are fun but really they are a project for the parent and don’t allow any creative input from the child. If you’re going to do a project like this, maybe start with doing a couple of cute footprint greetings cards, then let your child have free rein to create their own abstract masterpiece afterwards.

Give them their own sketchbook

One concern from parents about doing art with their toddlers is that they then have to keep all of their masterpieces forever. Nobody wants lots of tatty bits of paper cluttering up the house, which is why I love the idea of giving a young child their own sketchbook. The sketchbook keeps all their paintings together nice and tidy, which means they don’t turn into clutter. You can add the date each time your child uses the sketchbook so you create a really lovely diary of their development. The other great thing about a sketchbook is it’s portable! I took a sketchbook and a handful of colouring pencils on holiday with us to Mallorca and Herbie used it loads on the plane, in restaurants, in the villa etc. Herbie has several sketchbooks on the go, and we just use these sketchbooks from Seawhites of Brighton, the paper is nice and thick and they are really affordable.

Use colouring books

Colouring books can be great! You can use them with crayons, pencils, pens or paint. Herbie is very into dinosaurs and has a dinosaur colouring book that he enjoys painting with watercolours. Using a colouring book is a great way of having conversations whilst painting, as you can chat about what you’re painting, what you can see in the picture and what colours you’re going to use. Remember there is no need to stay in the line or to use the ‘correct’ colours.

Work together

Something Herbie really enjoyed when he was younger was for me to paint a simple stylised ladybird in his sketchbook, or to cut one out of paper, and then I would let him paint the dots. This is a collaborative project where you are setting up the project, but then handing over control to the child. Depending on the age of the child the dots might look more like dashes lines or scribbles, but when it’s done they will be enormously proud that they created something recognisable and that you worked on it together. Another great way to do this is to cut out a really simple butterfly and then allow your child to paint on it using poster paints. Whilst it’s still wet fold butterfly and half and you will create a beautiful mirror image.

Sometimes Herbie invites me to get involved in his painting, he’ll hand me a brush and say Mummy paint and then tell me what colour to use. This kind of collaborative painting is lovely and something he really enjoys.

Pavement chalk is the best

The title says it all really, pavement chalk is great! In the summer I always have a box of pavement chalk under the pushchair so that we can do some drawing when we get to the park. I love seeing the collaborative masterpieces that come to life when lots of children join in. If you have a patio at home can use pavement chalk there as well. It just washes away in the rain and washes out of clothes pretty easily so there isn’t a lot of mess.

Find an Art Club

Art classes or clubs for toddler are great, especially if you’re very concerned about creating mess at home, or you just don’t have the space. We are so lucky that we have a brilliant toddler art club at our local art gallery and it’s completely child lead, which means it’s brilliantly messy and fun. I would definitely recommend looking for something that is child lead, rather than anything that’s going to be too focused on creating a particular outcome. As well as looking for a toddler art club or class, you could also look for messy play sessions and art activities at art galleries. I know that the Tate is doing some brilliant stuff for kids at the moment.

It might all end in tears, but that’s okay!

Let’s remember these are babies and toddlers. The toddler urge to destroy, or to demand more, might kick in at some point. A lovely painting session will often end with Herbie demanding that I squeeze more and more paint onto the palette, then come the inevitable tears when I say we already have enough. It doesn’t mean he didn’t have a lovely time painting, toddlers are just toddlers. It’s frustrating when you’re having a lovely time painting, then suddenly they’re tipping all the brushes onto the floor or demanding more and more white paint so that they can paint the white paper white… You’ve just got to go with your instincts, and I usually end our painting session at this point before things descend into total chaos. It can feel like a lot of effort to set something up for it just to end in a meltdown (which is why I love watercolours for ease of set up and clear up) but the more you do it the longer and more satisfying your art sessions will be.

Here are some of my favourite baby/toddler art supplies. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on children’s art supplies, but at the same time the very, very cheapest supplies might not work very well. A good quality set of children’s watercolours will last a long time! The set that Herbie uses was my watercolour set when I was a child. It’s 25 years old and still going strong! Good places to look for children’s art supplies in the UK are Flying Tiger, Hobbycraft, The Works, and online Baker Ross is great.

1. Long sleeved aprons, like this one from IKEA, work great as craft aprons for young children.

2. This colourful chunky child’s paintbrush set from Wilko looks good

3. Personally I just let Herbie use proper paintbrushes, not kid’s paintbrushes. The bristles are much softer and easier to control. Obviously don’t let him use really expensive paintbrushes, but something aimed at students or crafters will work fine. This set from Daler Rowney is great value

4. These paints from Crayola are good but they are not washable!

5. These watercolour paints look good.

6. I love this table from IKEA because it wipes clean really easily and the storage buckets underneath are great for keeping all his art materials nice and tidy.

7. These sketchbooks from Seawhites of Brighton are brilliant

8. These non-spill paint pots are great for paint and for water.