Have you ever seen those store windows around Christmas where they paint those beautiful winter scenes? What if you could do it yourself? At any time you wanted? With this super simple DIY Washable Window Paint Recipe, you can. This fun process art idea is a great way for kids to get messy, be creative and have a lot of fun.
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Table of Contents
- More process art ideas to try
- Materials needed
- Instructions
- Different ways to play with window paint
- What you’re kids are learning
More Process Art Ideas to try
If you have young kids, you probably love the idea of process art. Where the process of creating is the important part, and what the picture actually looks like at the end doesn’t matter at all. This is my favorite way for toddlers and preschoolers to make art, and these are some of the best ideas we’ve tried so far.
- Toothbrush Painting
- Painting on Foil – Process Art for Kids
- Fizzy painting
- Watercolor Yarn Process Art
- Water Pistol Painting
For more ideas, take a look at these 60 Process Art Ideas for Kids.
Materials Needed
- Water based paint
- Dish soap (eco-friendly is best)
- Flour
- Small containers (1 for each color)
- Paint brush
How to make Washable Window Paint
1. Mix equal amounts of paint and dish soap.
It doesn’t make much difference what type of paint you use, tempera paint or acrylic paints. As long as it is water based, it will work for this homemade window paint recipe.
For dish soap, I recommend using an eco-friendly soap. One that won’t hurt your plants if it gets into the garden. That way your yard stays safe if your kids get the paint everywhere when they’re cleaning up.
2. Mix in a tsp of flour.
This step is optional. The reason why I like to add some flour to the DIY window paint is to make the mixture a little more thick. When I first made this recipe I used washable paint, which is already rather runny. When it is too runny it doesn’t stick to the glass surface nicely and your window art just drips away.
However, if you use regular paint, you most likely won’t need to thicken it up at all.
3. Enjoy painting
4. When you’re finished painting, wash it off with regular water.
Different Ways to Play
We’ve tried a few different window painting ideas over the last couple of years. My kids have had so much fun painting glass windows that it’s a fun activity we end up doing again and again. As you can imagine, a non-porous surface works the best. A smooth surface, like glass windows, doesn’t have the tiny holes for the paint to hide in, making it 1000 times easier to clean up afterwards.
Window Painting
Pick a window (that’s easily accessed for cleaning) and let your kids create whatever they want on the outside. This is a great option for 2 year olds who need something close to the ground for them to reach.
When they’re finished, you can either hose it off yourself or wait for a rainy day and let the weather take care of it for you.
If you want to paint the inside of your window, all you need to do is use a wet cloth and some window cleaner to get the paint off.
Paint the Car
As you can imagine, my kids were so excited when I let them paint the car. We did this on a hot day before we were due to give the car a good wash. It was a fun way to get messy and cool down. But the best part is that the car was nice and clean when we were finished.
Stained Glass Window Imitation Art
Use painter’s tape to mark off sections of your window, then paint vibrant colours in the spaces in between the lines. Once you’ve finished with all of the different colors, remove the tape to reveal a stained glass window effect underneath.
I thought it was a good idea to try this on our glass pool fence. Once again, it needed a good clean so I was happy to let the kids make a mess before I washed off their glass painting.
What You’re Learning
I’ll admit that the main reason I decided to do this activity with my young kids was because I knew it would be fun. Not because I wanted to teach them anything specific. However, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t some fantastic learning going on during this activity.
Creativity
Arts and crafts are a great way to use your imagination and then create something that represents that idea in the real world. This is important not only for artistic pursuits, like painting or music, but also for problem solving. Which is an essential life skill that everyone needs to develop.
Emotional Regulation
Sometimes it can be hard to put into words how we feel. But with process art, we don’t need to. Being able to draw, paint and create is one way to both process and express our emotions without the need for words. This is particularly useful for very young children, like toddlers and preschoolers, who are still learning to recognize and regulate their emotions while having a limited vocabulary.
Communication
Only a small portion of communication is verbal. Being able to express yourself clearly is a learned skill that is invaluable throughout life. Encourage your kids to express themselves in whatever way they can, and know that their vocabulary will catch up to them as they get older.
Are you going to make DIY Washable Window Paint for your kids?
Don’t forget to pin the idea for later.
