Unusual Paint Brushes: Fun Process Art for Preschoolers & Toddlers

Toddlers and preschoolers enjoy opportunities to be creative and engage in an open-ended project, and painting is just that! Painting can be a process art activity that creates opportunities for fine motor development as children work with different materials and squish paint between their fingers! In this article, we explore simple art projects for preschoolers and young children that use unusual materials as paint brushes to encourage engagement, learning, and creative expression.

What are Unusual Paint Brushes?

You can change up a child’s creative and tactile experience by offering stamps, sponges, or other items for applying paint. Any material that children can dip into paint and use to stamp, smudge, or smear can become an unusual paintbrush that encourages children to experiment with unique textures and shapes.

Getting Creative with Unusual Paint Brushes

If you are looking for some inspiration, the list below includes a variety of materials that children can paint with. 

• Citrus fruits: Lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits that you have cut in half can become stamps for dipping into and applying! Find instructions for setting up this art activity on the ECE blog, Fun Littles.
• Sponge shapes: Sponges can also be used as stamps in art projects for preschoolers and young children! For added fun, cut the sponges into a variety of shapes, and talk with children about the different shapes that they are using throughout the activity. Find additional ideas on the website, Busy Toddlers.
  
• Rolling ball: Rolling a rubber ball on construction paper with paint will leave an interesting and unique pattern. If you have different sizes and textures of balls available, you can use a few of them together and compare the variety of prints! Find more fun ideas on the blog, Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.
• Marshmallows: Marshmallows, held using a clothespin as a handle, can be used as stamps or brushes. Because marshmallows are tempting to snack on, you might consider pairing them with an edible paint. Visit ECE activity website, Hello Wonderful, for a recipe.

Developmental Benefits

Fine motor skills are movements that use small muscles in children’s hands, fingers, and wrists. These include muscles that will later be used for holding pencils and writing! Incorporating a variety of materials, utensils, and shapes into art projects for preschoolers encourages little ones to engage new muscles by using different grips, which in turn gets them ready for the writing they will do in kindergarten. If you are interested in learning more about supporting fine motor skill development, you might enjoy this article from the G2K archives: Supporting Fine Motor Skill Development.