Let Your Kid Paint Their Room

Let Your Kid Paint Their Room

I love all the amazing drawings and art projects my son creates. Caleb has filled our home wall-to-wall with exciting pictures over the years and I love every single one of them. But nothing compares to the GIANT floor to ceiling picture he has painted in his room. I admit, it was a long exhausting project. There were moments I wondered if we would ever finish- but it was worth it.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional kid-room painting expert by ANY MEANS. I learned you totally don’t HAVE to be. I encourage you to “go for it” with your kids. Roll-up those sleeves mama and get messy! 

#1. Practice makes.. Well, mommy will have an idea of what she is getting into 😉

Start with a “practice run” by painting little decorations to go in the room.

Do this a couple times. I observed my son’s the interest of the project and knew when we could take it up a level. The first time we did this, Caleb was in Kindergarten. He lasted about 15 minutes and was so over it… leaving me to finish the rhinoceros.

Lesson learned, the room will wait.

Also, practice projects are a MUCH easier clean-up. Start here before going straight to room painting. This is a fun way to build the excitement by making hand painted decorations for their room. You won’t believe how many cute things there are to paint from the craft store.

*Bonus if your child is going for a theme: There are millions of little critters to paint with a zillion paint colors. Animals, dinosaurs, cars, alphabet letters, doll houses.. you name it! 

#2. Age. Timing.

We painted a little bit each day spacing it out for a over a week during the summer. I waited to let my son paint his room until he was a “big boy” turning 7. This was for many reasons:

• First Grade could  be the magic age… at least it was for us. Caleb was a self proclaimed official “big” boy where he could easily handle the paint brush, knew where to paint and where NOT to paint! He also didn’t have a total melt down when I told him this would take several days of patience with the drying process. 
• Summer time helps- School is out. Plan a time where you HAVE THE TIME and even are going away for vacation to let the room dry. It’s also important to be able to crack a window open or let the ceiling fan run.

#3. Colors and Creativity

We did a few trips to the painting aisle coming back for little color swatches. Narrowing our choices down from 20 colors to 3-4 was a whole ordeal, but we made it. Caleb’s theme was “dinosaur world” and you can imagine how many colors would go into that. We started off with 2 colors- one for the background and one for the “first” dinosaur.

Planning the colors in the room was such a fun step because of how excited Caleb was. We picked out a pack of brushes and watched the paint mix. What a neat experience.

Important Note: Choose Non-Toxic paint!!! We had plenty of help along our journey down the paint aisle and it is wise to ask for tips and tricks from the professionals at the store.

#4. It’s going to be messy.

I covered every inch of carpet and still found splatters. Prepare yourself for mess. Spills happen. You will find paint all over your clothes, behind your ear, up your nose. Paint in your hair, paint paint everywhere! Totally part of the process and you kids will love it.

#5. ENJOY IT. And do it again.

My advice is to enjoy the ride. Let your kid’s imagination run wild. Their room is a reflection of their personality. And they are PROUD. Every time we have a guest come over Caleb jumps up and down with excitement to show off his room. His room. He shows off every dinosaur he painted with “a little help” from mom.

And we can’t wait to start on the next wall next summer! 🙂 Please share your painting stories with me and I would love to see your child’s painting room project.