I can’t help but post way too many pics from this amazing balloon painting play date.  This was so much fun and so gorgeous.  We have never painted with balloons before.  Have you?  We’ve painted balloons, but big ones with air in them.  That was cool, but painting with water balloons is a whole other story.  These girls had an absolute blast.  Here’s what we did.

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First, I set out three white water balloons in bowls from Ikea, which they now sell on Amazon!  They sell a bunch of awesome Ikea stuff on Amazon now.  It’s so convenient.  Ikea has the best stuff in the best colors and it’s so cheap.  Big fan.  Anyway, I set out three balloons, a big piece of heavy watercolor paper, and a tray full of non toxic tempera paints.  Right away the girls asked for paintbrushes, so I put a few of those out as well.  Then I stepped aside.

First, they dipped.  Then they painted.  Then they giggled.

I love watching how different kids approach the same activity.  Each girl had their own style.  D, 19 months,  stuck her fingers in the paint pretty quickly but was happy to dip the balloon in the paint and press it on the paper the longest.  Gigi, 3 years, was intent on painting her balloon several layers in very specific colors with the paintbrush.  She had a plan and was  determined to stick to it.  Emma, almost 4, was happy to paint her balloon with the paintbrush, but really enjoyed rolling her balloon all around the paper, every time giggling a little harder than the last.

Regardless of style, each girl was 100 percent engaged in this activity.  It was awesome.  We discovered that it was really fun to hold onto the tied part of the balloon and make it bounce across the paper like a bunny.  Then we discovered that you can roll the balloon across the whole table and sometimes mama can catch it and sometimes she can’t, before it hits the floor.  This met with quite a few squeals of delight.  Fortunately, none of the water balloons burst.  They are really durable.

Last, we discovered that you can give your balloons a bath and they get totally clean.  Ahh, fresh clean balloons to start over with!  The girls loved this part. They walked back and forth dipping their balloons in the paint and then washing them off in our balloon bathtub.

I must admit I was pretty selective with the colors I put out on the painting tray.  No brown, black or dark green.  I wanted the colors to remain bright and beautiful in hopes that I can use the art for Ev’s secret Father’s Day present tomorrow.  It came out so pretty don’t you think?  I often leave out darker colors like black and brown when painting with kids.  Who needs mush looking paintings right? Regardless of color, this activity is a ten plus for little kids.  They loved it! I hope you give it a try.

If you like this idea, check out this awesome ebook I contributed to.  It’s full of fun ideas to play and learn from.