Colorful Water Drop Painting

Try this simple to set up water droplet painting activity for kids. Any theme, any season, all you need is a little imagination, water, and paint. Even if your kiddos aren’t the crafty type, every kid loves to paint with water drops. Combine science and art for fun, hands-on STEAM activities!

EASY ART WITH WATER FOR KIDS

ART WITH WATER DROPS

Get ready to add this fun water droplet painting project to your art activities this season. Combine a bit of science with a process art activity for kids of all ages. While you’re at it, make sure to check out more fun STEAM projects for kids.

STEM + Art = STEAM! When kids combine STEM and art, they can really explore their creative side from painting to sculptures! STEAM projects incorporate art and science for a truly fun experience. Great for preschoolers to elementary kids who may not be keen on art and crafts.

Our STEAM activities are designed with you, the parent or teacher, in mind! Easy to set up, quick to do, most activities will take only 15 to 30 minutes to complete and are heaps of fun! Plus, our supplies lists usually contain only free or cheap materials you can source from home!

WHY DO ART WITH KIDS?

Children are naturally curious. They observe, explore, and imitate, trying to figure out how things work and how to control themselves and their environments. This freedom of exploration helps children form connections in their brain, it helps them learn—and it’s also fun!

Art is a natural activity to support this essential interaction with the world. Kids need the freedom to explore and experiment creatively.

Art allows children to practice a wide range of skills that are useful not only for life but also for learning. These include the aesthetic, scientific, interpersonal, and practical interactions that can be discovered through the senses, intellect, and emotions.

Making and appreciating art involves emotional and mental faculties!

Art, whether making it, learning about it, or simply looking at it – offers a wide range of important experiences. In other words, it’s good for them!

Make sure to check out our list of over 50 do-able and fun art projects for kids!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE STEAM PROJECT

WATER DROP PAINTING

SUPPLIES:

Art Paper
Watercolor paints
Water
Brush
Dropper

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Use the dropper to place water drops around your paper in any design you like.

STEP 2: Use your paintbrush to GENTLY color each drop by filling your brush with color and
then gently touching the top of each drop.

You don’t want to break the drops and spread water all over the page!

Watch what happens to the water drops!

The drop will magically change color as if you were using a magic wand! Repeat with different colors!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Surface tension and cohesion are the reason you can form bubbles of water on your paper. Cohesion is the “stickiness” of like molecules to one another. Water molecules love to stick together! Surface tension is the result of all the water molecules sticking together.

When you place the small drop gently on the paper, a dome shape begins to form. This is due to the surface tension forming a shape that has the least amount of surface area possible (like bubbles)! Learn more about surface tension.

Now, when you add more (your colored water) water to the drop, the color will fill the entire drop that was already there. Don’t add too much though, or your ‘bubble’ will pop!