On this dark, cold winter day, I had a little fun together with my girls with this Valentine’s Day kids art activity.

We used pretty Valentine’s Day colored paints and papers and colorful, clean sponges to make some beautiful artwork.

Both my 3-year-old and 19-month-old did this activity, though they each did the activity differently.

My 19-month-old, Lia, preferred to paint with her fingers and used the sponge occasionally.

My 3-year-old refused to touch the paint and required a paintbrush to brush the paint onto the sponges before pressing them to the paper to make prints.

How to Set Up This Kids Art Activity

You’ll need a few minutes to get the kids ready for art and to get the materials together, but it’s so worth it. Art is one of those things that seems useless (to me, a non-artist!), but which I’ve noticed my kids grow developmentally.

And sometimes they NEED arts and crafts time!

I think it’s good for the soul to make something pretty and to just do something different from the things we normally do.

I’m a terrible artist, but I do enjoy coloring, painting, and crafting from time to time just because it feels good to make things!

Prep Time

First, prep your kids and art surface. My 3-year-old, Elena, likes to keep herself pretty clean, so I didn’t really do much for her besides remind her to keep paint off herself and off the table.

Lia, however, is messy, messy, messy. I mean, she’s only 19 months!

I put an art smock on her (these things are great for messy, wet activities and for eating messy foods) and made sure she was working on a surface that wouldn’t stain.

You could also cover your table with newspaper or I like to use a shower curtain for the really messy activities.

The Art Supplies

The art supplies we used were:

• construction paper
• washable paint
• sponges
• paintbrushes
• tape (to hold the paper in place if needed)

I cut two hearts out of sponges and an X and an O.

We don’t have fancy palettes or easels here, so I just slapped some paint on a paper plate and said, “Here you go, kids.”

Making Art with Sponges

I showed Elena what she *could* do with the sponges, but let her have the freedom to decide how she actually wanted to make her artwork.

I’ve discovered that with her, the less I try to control the outcome of her art, the more she gets into it and has fun.

I used the paintbrush to brush paint onto a heart sponge and then pressed the sponge on the paper to make a heart print.

I like using the paintbrush because it forces kids to slow down and not just stamp messily all over the place.

They have to intentionally paint the sponge. They can even do several colors on the sponge if they want. And they use way less paint.

Elena did this for one page, and for her next pages, she preferred to use the paintbrush and skip the sponge altogether.

Lia hardly used the sponges. She really liked feeling the paint on her fingers and examining it closely.

This was fine, as she wasn’t eating the paint or trying to paint her body or the furniture.

Doing Art with Kids

It doesn’t bother me that I spent two minutes cutting shapes out of sponges when neither kid really used the sponges for their art projects.

Again, I believe art is about free expression and exploration, so I didn’t care how either of my kids created their art, as long as they were doing something constructive with the paint.

I try to give Elena as much freedom as I can during our activity times, since I structure and control so much of her time and behavior every day.

Honestly, it’s exhausting to be a parent of a young kid, don’t you agree? And I personally never like being told what to do, so I can relate somewhat to how our kids might feel being told where to go, how to dress, how to act every minute of the day.

Art and some of our other activities are a great time for my girls to let loose and try things their way in safe space.

Your Turn to Make Art with Sponges

And now, it’s your turn to try this art activity. Grab some sponges, and get ready to create!

The New Activity Playbook!

Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?

I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.

Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!

CHECK IT OUT!