DIY: Watercolor Craft for Rainy Day Fun

By Annie Riechmann and Dawn Suzette Smith March 25, 2016

Learn to utilize the rain for a unique watercolor craft for kids.

They say April showers bring May flowers. We say April showers bring fun art, too! This simple activity is a great reminder of the way that the presence of water in our world allows us to do more than just loads of laundry and after-dinner dishes. Yes, the water cycle is responsible for the greening of our grass, but it also provides the water needed for various art forms, many of them favorites among the small set. Watercolor painting is certainly among them.

What you will need:

Watercolor paper
Watercolor paint tubes
Paintbrushes, sticks, long grasses, or other painting tools

What you will do:

Take the supplies outside on a rainy day, and find a place to set up where there is enough cover to begin the project without everything getting wet before you are ready.
If you are painting with a younger child, have him choose some paint colors he would like to work with and ask him where he would like the paint on his paper. Place dabs of paint on the watercolor paper as directed. An older child can add paint to her paper on her own. If she have not worked with tube watercolors in the past, let her know that a little bit goes a long way.
Lay the paper out where it will be hit by the rain. If there is a little wind use a few rocks to weigh it down. This will allow the paper to get wet and start to move the paint. Once the paper is sufficiently wet, let your child use brushes, sticks, grasses, or other painting tools of his choice to move the paint around.
When she is happy with the painting and feels as though it is complete, place it somewhere flat and protected to dry, or leave it out in the rain and watch how it changes as the water dilutes the paint. There will undoubtedly be requests for more. Keeping extra watercolor paper in a waterproof bag will help keep it at the ready for more rainy-day artwork.

More to Explore

Play with paint placement and colors, adding more paint as needed.
Cover a piece of paper completely with a fresh, thick coat of watercolor paint, then let the raindrops hit the paint to make spots and drips as the paint moves around.
If you only have a watercolor palette with cake watercolors, simply place your paints out in the rain for a bit to fill with water, let your paper get wet in the rain, and paint away as usual.