Child Friendly T-shirt painting

Several painting techniques are extremely easy for children. The potato print is one. We used a cookie cutter to establish our shape, sinking it deep enough into the potato half to give us a metal "stop" when cutting away the excess. A plastic place mat is perfect for inserting into the shirt to keep the paint from soaking through to the back of the shirt. A smooth surface mat will provide a truer impression. We used a textured mat for dimension. Simply letting paint drizzle from the end of a stir stick produces instant modern art. Using a foam brush to apply paint to a sea sponge allows the children to cover a large area at a time without gobbing on the paint and the foam brush is an easy applicator for painting directly and painters tape provides a general guide.

The twins had watched the older children and knew exactly what to do with no instruction at all - as if it would have made a difference. They went right to work while an inverted plate protected areas to be left unpainted.

We used ordinary house paint for several reasons; We had it on hand, we know it is virtually impossible to wash out of clothing and being latex, it does wipe off skin easily.