Did you ever do those paint with water books back when you were a kid? I had completely forgotten about them until I ran across some in a store the other day. Mostly out of nostalgia, I bought one for each of the kids. And as it turns out, they’ve been a great purchase!
Not only are these paint with water books a fairly mess-free painting activity, the kids love them, they are simple to set up, and they promote the development of fine motor skills necessary for writing – a win, win, win in my book!
XGirl picked the Melissa & Doug My First Paint with Water – Blue
The kids really enjoyed painting with this book.
QBoy picked a different kind of paint with water book – Melissa & Doug Paint with Water – Vehicles
Instead of the paint being built in to the print on the page, there was a paint pad at the top of each page in the book that the kids could use by wetting the paint areas with water.
There wasn’t a lot of paint on each pad and the kids struggled a bit to get it on their brushes, but they still really enjoyed the experience.
Now, toward the end of the day XGirl has been frequently asking to paint with her paint with water book, so I guess this activity has been a hit!
More resources for kid-friendly arts and crafts
More arts and crafts from Gift of Curiosity:
- Tape resist watercolor painting
- Coffee filter art
- Crystallized snowflakes
- Upcycled crayons
- Leaf collages
- Glue monsters
- Chromatography flowers craft
Note: For more kid-friendly craft projects, see my Arts and Crafts for Kids page and my Arts and Crafts Pinterest board.
Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Arts and crafts on Pinterest.
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Becca says
August 1, 2013 at 9:24 amI have look EVERYWHERE for these lately! I hate paint because it ends up as a huge mess in my house. 🙂 Where did you find them (obviously amazon, but did you find them in a store)???
-Becca
Katie says
August 1, 2013 at 10:20 amThe ones I bought were purchased from a small, independent retailer near my home. I provided the Amazon link for others’ convenience. 🙂
Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says
August 1, 2013 at 11:56 amI used to love doing these when I was little.
Emma says
August 1, 2013 at 2:33 pmWe were just doing this today! It’s great because they can do it on their own; all they need is a little bit of water!
Katie says
August 1, 2013 at 3:36 pmYep, I love how easy it is to set up for them!
OneMommy says
August 1, 2013 at 7:01 pmI bought some for mine b/c I could remember using them whenever we went camping as a kid. They have had a blast with them! And I love that they can “paint” without me having to get out real paints and have a big clean up at the end.
Katie says
August 1, 2013 at 8:20 pmYep, the easy clean up is a huge bonus!
Missy Homemaker says
August 2, 2013 at 4:43 pmI’ve forgotten all about these! My son would love them. We always had these when we were kids (30+ years ago) and I remember liking them too.
Sugar Aunts says
August 8, 2013 at 6:50 pmWe love painting with water! This is such a simple and fun kids activity, love that! We are featuring your post tomorrow on Share it Saturday. Thanks for linking up!
Colleen at Sugar Aunts
Gabby says
August 3, 2014 at 7:39 pmSo funny to see you talking about this, because I bought these earlier this summer for my kids. Like you I think I got lured in by the nostalgia factor, but I also thought my kids would really enjoy doing them since they like painting so much. It has been a huge hit with them, just like it was for me when I was a kid. Just goes to show that sometimes the oldies are still goodies. Oh and I found mine at a local AC Moore.
Katie SG says
August 3, 2014 at 7:42 pmI know kids should use real paint sometimes as well, but when I want to give them something quick and easy, these paint with water books are great!