Kitchen Tools as Paint Brushes

Grab those kitchen tools for a fun process art project!

Fancy yourself an easy art project? I’ve got just the one! We switched things up a bit over here with using kitchen tools as paint brushes and it was too much fun not to share. This easy change in our normal painting routine really spiced up art time!

I’m a huge fan of open ended art projects like this (often called process art). It’s where you the adult have no predetermined outcome for the art project, just the opportunity to let the child create, imagine, and explore. Whatever they come up with is perfect.

I taped a large square of kraft paper to our patio because nothing is more inviting that a large canvas to work with. A few squirts of paint and a bunch of kitchen tools later and we were in painting business.

I chose a variety of tools that I felt could all have unique purposes while painting (ie: I didn’t want to just grab 5 measuring cups and call it good). I actually thought and considered what we had and what could work. Next time, I’ll let my son help pick the tools we use since he has some context for making those choices now that we’ve done this once.

My son was shocked to not have a “normal” paint brush.

Using these tools as paint brushes really threw my son for a loop! He was stumped by how to use the tools to make art / to paint with them. I stayed on the sidelines encouraging him to simply try each one and see what he thinks.

Once he got over the initial surprise of not using paint brushes and the shock of having to paint with a fork, he really go into it!

I loved that he started calling each tool by a new name to describe how he was using it: the smoosher (aka the turner), the spreader (aka the spatula), and the brusher (aka the sink brush). I hadn’t expected him to rename the tools for this project so that was a cuteness bonus.

In the end, this kept my son entertained and painting for nearly 20 minutes – what a great return of investment on a 30 second set up! I love when quick and easy activities like this will hold toddler attention for so much longer than they took to prep.

Need other fun painting ideas? Try fly swatter painting, painting toys, and painting with gloop.

Try using kitchen tools as paint brushes in your next project!