Toddler Art Class: Paint + Cars

Painting with toy wheels makes interesting patterns and textures!
Art Project:  Painting with cars
Supplies:
big paper
masking tape
toy cars
paint (glitter paint optional but so much fun!)

roasting pans
paint brushes
sponges shaped like cars (optional)

Book:  Toot Toot, Beep Beep by Emma Garcia

Music to make art by:  Grenadilla by Grenadilla

Today we painted with cars.  I cut large pieces of paper off the roll and asked parents to tape them to the table to keep them from sliding around.  Then, I brought buckets with cars, paint brushes and sponges to the tables and let kids start playing with the cars while waiting for the paint.  I then brought wet wipes and paper towels to each table, and finally brought a roasting pan with three lines of paint to each table.  Some of the kids drove their cars through the paint, then over the table to see the different tire tread patterns:

others painted the cars with the paint brushes (one mom pointed out that the glitter paint actually looked a little like a real automobile paint finish):

others painted with both a car and a sponge:

and yet others just delighted in getting in paint up to their elbows:

although only one person chose to take their "artwork" home, all of the kids, both boys and girls, enjoyed this experience.  I was chasing some groups out by the end of class so I'd have enough time to clean up and re-set the room before the next class started.

Hindsight Tip:  include shallow buckets of water on the table for rinsing brushes and sponges and cars off, but don't be surprised if the water also gets incorporated into the art!

 

Variations to try: 
painting with nature (pine needles, leaves, grass, feathers)
painting with dinosaurs (plastic dinos--talk about the different footprints they might have)