I first saw this idea from Lucy at Baked Potato Mummy. Her little Potato isn’t much older than Monkey and I am always inspired by (and a little in awe of) the arts and crafts they get up to. The idea is that you fold a piece of card in half and your little one paints it oranges and reds for the sky. Then on a separate piece of folded card, they paint the bluey sea. Then when it is all dry you match the pieces together and have a lovely sunset picture!
It looks like such a simple way to have an actual picture at the end so I thought it was perfect for this week’s Creative Challenge.
I’d bought some new paints recently so I splodged some onto some paper plates as I figured that was the easiest way of doing it. For the sea part of the picture I chose purple, blue and green. For the sky I went for orange and yellow. (They didn’t have any red in stock the day I went to buy the paint).
A while ago, at the start of the Creative Challenge I had bought some sponge-brushes which I thought would be good for this so out they came. Monkey got stuck in – we started with the orangy/yellow sky. 
Then, when he had had enough, we had a clean and then did the sea.
Monkey had loads of fun and we ended up with this masterpiece!
Hurrah, a successful creative challenge!! 🙂 We’re getting better at containing the mess when it comes to painting. I have discovered that the key is preparation, having a bowl of soapy water, cloth and tea towels on standby – along with a large amount of baby wipes to quickly clean up any splashes!
Do you like being creative with your kids? Or are you good at being creative cooking on a budget? Join in with the Creative Challenge and link up with me
looks like he had lots of fun and what a beautiful picture he made. my boy loves painting and seeing this has made me realise we havent had the paints out in ages…must rectify that! #letkidsbekids
he really did love it – aww yes, glad to have inspired you to get the paint out again! x
We love painting.. I am sure little one had loads of fun. Such a nice painting the boy has done!
Sending smiles!
#letkidsbekids
Thank you, it is so much fun isn’t it? xx
I love the look of concentration on his face and the wonder of the blue paint.x
haha thanks me too, he does it every time, like he’s never seen it before, even we had just been painting the day before! So cute! xx
Looks like lots of fun and very successful, well done! (I always have baby wipes ready when painting!)
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Thank you! Oh yes I am realising baby wipes are essential when there is painting going on! xx
Bless him, he’s really having fun there 🙂 I was watching the white woodwork in each picture to see if the paint spread lol!!!!!
haha It has been splashed a couple of times – but thank goodness for babywipes it has come off. The woodwork actually needs doing again so I’m not too worried. don;t want to do it though as then I will worry about it!! xx
Paper plates! That’s an idea I shall be stealing! Great pictures.
#letkidsbekids
Ha ha I can’t take credit I saw someone else use them and wondered why I had never thought to do it before! thanks 🙂 xx
This does look good! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Thank you, it was great fun and I am getting better at worrying less about the mess! xx
What a fun idea, looks like he is really concentrating and enjoying himself!
Thanks, i was dead chuffed with it and he loved it, win win! xx
This is brilliant! I haven’t done painting with the wee girl for a while, I might have to try this 🙂
I thought it was great as soon as I saw it, so simple but very effective! Monkey loved it so i am sure the Wee Girl will too! xx
How fab is this-love it!
thanks lovely! xx
Well that really does look like a magnificent masterpiece, and what a lot of fun too! #LetKidsBeKids
Oh yes, preparation is definitely key. My only issue is that I tend to find often I spend more time on preparing and tidying up than my son actually spends on the activity!!
haha I know the feeling! 🙂 xx
Fab idea! We’ll have to try this if I can cope with the mess (I’m getting better!!!) #creativechallenge
good luck, it’s all in the preparation I’m finding!! Look forward to hearing how you get on with it! 😉 xx
Ooh great idea! I’ll be stealing that one when Jake is a little older : )
oh please do, it’s great! xx
Monkey looks like he’s really enjoying himself! I keep thinking we should get the paints out more here but washable felt tips are so much cleaner so we normally stick to those. Love this way of making a picture though. #minicreations
Oh I completely understand that! It is good fun though and the mess isn’t too bad! Thanks 🙂 xx
What a wonderful piece of artwork Monkey created. I love the look of concentration on his face!
Thanks, it’s so cute watching them concentrate so hard isn’t it? xx
I’m so glad you both enjoyed yourselves and thank you for the link back xx
Thank you for the idea! xx
Good idea to do two separate colour activities – you then have something to work with to make it look a bit artier afterwards! I can’t tell you how many yellow sheets of paper I have been given by EJ’s nursery which are supposedly ‘duck prints’. At least he enjoyed himself (although his clothing will never be the same again!).
It’s great isn’t it, Monkey loved it and afterwards I could make it look like an actual picture. We have so many pictures that are just splodges, which are lovely, but it’s nice to have something like this too! hahahaha I love it 🙂 xx
Messy fun is the best, I really need to get over the messy part and get my kids doing more creative things. Your lil one looks like he is having the time of his life in all that paint. What kind of paint do you buy for toddlers??? I have even saved old clothes for messy play but just haven’t had the courage to let two loose in it yet! Just found Let Kids Be Kids and it’s really motivated me to do more. #letkidsbekids
Aww I totally understand your reservations, it is scary unleashing paint with a toddler on a nice clean house! But it is so much fun for them though so it is definitely worth it! I just bought paints from the early learning centre this time as they were on offer and quite cheap. They seem to be quite a good consistency too. When monkey was younger I made some homemade finger paints which were good as totally non toxic. If you do brave it I would love it if you tell me all about it in the Creative Challenge – it’s why i started it, to push myself to do it! xx
Messy fun definitely FUN!
#creativechallenge
ooh yes 🙂 xx
Lucas says – Once again my little dude Monkey shows some awesome artwork. Just a small piece of advice Monkey – stay messy dude – the Mother’s secretly love it!!!
Lucas’s mother says – *ahem* Lucas – thin ground darling……….. very thin ground but God Bless the baby wipe!!!!
Thanks for linking to #minicreations
Ha ha Monkey says thanks Lucas, Mummy says thanks Lucas’s mum! God Bless the baby wipe is right! xx