I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More Painting Crafts

In honor of Children’s Book Week, we’ve decided to combine The Babe’s favorite book with her favorite activity, painting.  Because you know, “there ain’t no harm if I paint my arm”… or neck… or feet.  Or any of the other great lines in I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More, by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by David Catrow.The kiddo in the book has gotten into trouble for painting all over the house and isn’t supposed to paint anymore.  But he (or she!) just can’t stop!  So he and his trusty dog sidekick paint up all of their body parts. “So I take some red and I paint my head!”  We did a ton of fun stuff with this theme.  I think this book might be my favorite too, because I just couldn’t stop coming up with painting crafts!

Painted Kiddo Outlines

Life-size anything is always fun for the kiddos.  So we rolled out some craft paper, traced around The Babe and her friend and set them loose with some paint.  We read the book aloud and had them paint as we go.  I’ll admit, they were too excited doing life-size portraits to really follow along, but it was worth a shot.

If you need a little bit smaller version for quick painting sessions, click here for my Free I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! Printable.  It’s a simple body outline that they can paint as you read aloud.  This would be a great classroom setting exercise, too.People Sponges

The girls also did some stamping with people shaped sponges on their life-size paintings.  I picked these great people shaped melamine sponges at Daiso, a Japanese everything store we have out in California.  I couldn’t find the exact item online, but check the link at the bottom of the post for something similar.  Or you could cut your own from those Magic Sponges, the ones that expand when they hit the water.  Draw an outline and cut before wetting to make it easier.

Painted Kiddo Cookies

We got some off-season use of our gingerbread kid cookie cutter and made a bunch of cookies.  The Babe then painted the body parts of these too.  I’ve been using The Curvy Carrot’s Royal Icing Cookies recipe for years and they never fail to impress.  It’s a yummy butter shortbread style cookie and she does a great job explaining how to use royal icing if you haven’t done that before.  I frosted the cookies white beforehand to give an even base for The Babe’s decorating and to make them a little sturdier for little hands.  Not a mandatory, but the extra layer of frosting makes them pretty yummy too :)

Painted Paper Dolls

While we were waiting for the cookies to bake and cool, we cut out some paper doll garlands out of freezer paper.  The Babe then took watercolors to them for a gorgeous, multi-color effect.  I think we might hang these in her room for a while.  They’re so cheery!

To make them, tear off a long sheet of freezer paper and then trace a gingerbread kid with your cookie cutter.  Fold the paper accordion-style to the same width as your ginger kid.  Then carefully cut around the outline, through the whole stack except for the tips of each arm.  Don’t cut the arms or they won’t be connected!

Homemade Bath Paint

Aaaaaannnddd, we also made some quick bath paint so The Babe could paint her body for real.  (I told you I went a little crazy for this topic.)  So much fun!  Beware, it might be too much fun for right before bed.  She was so excited by it, I could barely get her to go to sleep!  It’s a simple recipe, just mix the following and paint away…

• 1/4 cup body wash or bubble bath
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• food coloring (all natural colors food color works great here)

I hope you liked these Ain’t Gonna Paint No More crafts.  The Babe sure did!  Need the book or some people shaped stuff?  Check out the links below :)  FYI, I just joined the Amazon Associates program and get a small percentage back on any items purchased through these links.  Please help support Left Brain Craft Brain’s crazy crafting budget!  Thank you thank you thank you…

You can find these on Amazon {affiliate}: