I’ve gathered many ideas from my art classes and birthday party business that I’d love to share. First of all, toddlers love art! Toddlers enjoy play art activities. I want to provide you with the best ways to prepare for your little one’s special day. I’ve come up with numerous fun Toddler Art Birthday Party Ideas, even the parents have fun. If you’re looking for a memorable way to host your party, get ready and grab your pen! Let’s dive into some toddler art birthday party ideas!
Art Party Topics
- Art Theme
- Painting Activities
- What Toddlers Can Paint
- Planning Your Birthday Party
- Decorating for Art Parties
- Art Theme Party Favors
- Art Birthday Food & Snacks
- How Long Should Our Party Be?
- Keeping Messes Down
Art Theme
Every birthday party usually has a theme, and a painting party is a theme in itself. Imagine a “Little Picasso” or “Little Artist” theme. The exciting part is that the paint party can feature all the colors of the rainbow. You can use fun images like a painter’s palette or a paintbrush. Nowadays, most party supply stores even carry rainbow or painter palette decorations. With over twenty years of hosting paint parties, I’ve seen incredibly creative decorations. Check out the pictures in this blog for inspiration. So, consider art as your overall theme!
Painting Activities
The main activity at an art-themed birthday party is painting with wet paint, such as finger paint, tempera paint, watercolor, or even acrylic. The idea is for toddlers to paint using brushes, rollers, or stampers. Keep in mind that it can get messy, but I’ve got tips below on minimizing the mess at paint parties. You can have an art theme without using traditional paints by opting for tempera paint sticks, dot stampers, or toddler-friendly drawing mediums, along with stickers and stamps. These can be fun alternatives while keeping things tidy.
What Toddlers Can Paint
Toddlers can paint many things, even if they aren’t skilled at it yet. With years of experience, I’ve discovered fun ideas that kids love. You can decide if you want the kids to take home what they paint or work on a group project. This means they can either create their own art or collaborate on something they won’t take home, like a large cardboard, canvas, box, or any big object. For example, there’s a famous museum near me where thousands of children have painted a big Volkswagen Beetle car, seriously! My go-to items for toddlers to paint are wooden crafts, sticks, rocks, and small canvases. For more fun painting ideas for toddlers, check out my book Kids Painting.
Planning Your Birthday Party
Here are some common steps to help you plan your birthday party. Start by choosing the date and time. Then, make a list of families you want to invite and contact them to see who can attend at your preferred time. Keep in mind nap times for the little ones; scheduling the party early or later in the day can help ensure your child is awake. I remember when my daughter turned three, her party was scheduled during her nap time, and I couldn’t get her to wake up for the guests, so consider these factors.
Next, plan your budget for food, snacks, cake, party favors, decorations, paint supplies, and any other activities you want. Some families like to include extras, like a bouncy house or hiring a vendor like me, a [paint party business]. The next step is to decide on the location—whether at a park, home, or community center. Once you finalize the location, send out invitations as soon as possible.
Art Birthday Decorations
Make your decorations colorful by using balloons, napkins, paper plates, and cups in various solid colors. In fact, they can all be different! A colorful banner and balloons can tie everything together nicely. Some families like to decorate an art easel with their child’s name. Have fun with it! The great thing is you can use anything that looks colorful and artistic.
Art Theme Party Favors
Art party favors are gifts you give each guest to take home. I follow the $5.00 rule for party favors. Some of the most creative ones we’ve given out at our art parties include inexpensive smocks (artist cover-ups), crayon shapes like Colour Blocks, fun-colored pencils, paintbrushes, or —anything they can create with to go with the art theme. This is the fun part, think about what you would like for your toddler to receive.
Depending on your budget, you could go big with a chunky board book featuring colorful art or small with a crayon shape or a box of crayons, paints, coloring books, or stickers. Even their first paint roller can be exciting with a cute tag saying be creative. I’ve been commissioned many times to customize paint party favors, I’ve made take-home paint kits or custom crayon shapes, such as a unicorn. Goodie bags are thrilling for kids. Don’t break the bank; choose high or low options based on your budget.
Art Birthday Food & Snacks
When planning food for a toddler’s birthday, I’ve seen everything from traditional family dishes to simple pizzas and toddler finger foods. Usually, parents are feeding the little guests. Be sure to have a small table for the little guest too! Options for good can range from catered tacos and Subway mini sandwiches or homemade Indian food. . Choose what you’re comfortable serving, but keep in mind of the little guest. Make snacking small and easy for the toddlers. Have to grown up food and the toddler food thought out.
Get creative with colorful snacks and treats. We’ve prepared cute bowls of colorful snacks, cupcakes and cake. One party I hosted began at 10:00 am in a park for brunch, featuring waffles, fruit, and orange juice, with kids taking home a special cookie for later. The idea was to have an early start for the toddlers, allowing them to nap in the afternoon after painting and playing. Another mom ordered beautiful, colorful cake pops for the kids to take home. As you can see, food and snacks for a toddler art paint birthday party can be as fun and creative as you want.
How Long Should The Party Be?
I often get asked this by parents who hire me for parties. The duration of a toddler art birthday party depends on whether you’re inviting a lot of family or mostly new families from your child’s social circle, like mommy-and-me classes, daycare, or neighbors. If many family members are attending, aim for 2-3 hours. However, if it’s mostly new toddler parents, keep it under 2 hours. Remember, young kids have short attention spans and won’t last half the day. Consider nap times and your child’s usual routine. The main activity, like painting, will be quick, around 15-20 minutes, but some kids might return to it after running around or eating.
Keeping Painting Mess Down
First, arrange all art activities outdoors if the weather allows. Some parents choose to hold them at a park or rent a recreational room. It’s best to avoid having painting activities inside your home, as toddlers can have unpredictable movements. To minimize mess, think small. This is a key tip from my books and training. Reduce the size of the art activity with small paintbrushes, small surfaces, and small palettes or plates of paint. There’s no rule that the art activity has to be large. You can even skip bowls of paint and use tempera paint sticks or dot stampers. I provide many ideas on this golden rule in my early childhood art guide and kids’ paint book. You can find more about that there.
Art Party Resources
If you want to learn more about toddler art or hire me for a paint party planning, email me at info@spramani.com. Join my newsletter to be notified when my new Toddler Paint Birthday Party book is ready. I also create special art party favors like crayon shapes and custom art kits. You can find all the art supplies for sale on my online art store. I’d love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment below.
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