Top 6 Master Artist Techniques to Try with Kids on a Rainy Day
The rain is drumming against the windowpane, a familiar soundtrack to a day stuck indoors. You hear the dreaded words echo from the living room: "I'm boooored!" Before you reach for the remote control or hand over a tablet, what if you could turn this grey, dreary day into a vibrant explosion of color, creativity, and discovery? What if you could transform your kitchen table into the bustling studio of a world-famous artist?
It's easier than you think. The great masters of art history weren't just serious figures in dusty museums; they were innovators, experimenters, and rule-breakers. Their groundbreaking techniques are not only fascinating to study but are also surprisingly accessible and outrageously fun for kids. By exploring their methods, you're not just making macaroni necklaces; you're teaching your children to see the world through a new lens, to appreciate the process, and to express themselves with confidence.
So, let's roll up our sleeves, cover the table with newspaper, and get ready to banish rainy-day boredom for good. We're about to dive into six master artist techniques that will inspire your little creators and, who knows, maybe even awaken the master artist within you.
1. Vincent van Gogh: Embrace Texture with Impasto
When you think of Vincent van Gogh, you probably picture the swirling, energetic sky of The Starry Night or the thick, vibrant petals of his Sunflowers. What makes his work so electric and alive is a technique called impasto, where paint is laid on an area of the surface in very thick layers, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible.
Van Gogh didn't want his paintings to be flat; he wanted you to feel the wind in the cypress trees and the heat of the sun on the wheatfields. Impasto gives art a three-dimensional, sculptural quality that kids find irresistible. It’s a wonderfully sensory experience that moves beyond simply coloring and into the realm of building and shaping. It's permission to be bold, a little messy, and to truly feel the paint.
How to try it with kids:
- Materials: You don't need expensive oil paints. Thick tempera or acrylic paint works perfectly. You can even make it thicker by mixing in a little flour or craft glue.
- Tools of the Trade: Forget delicate brushes. Hand your child craft sticks, old plastic gift cards, palette knives, or even just their fingers! These tools encourage them to slather and sculpt the paint rather than just brushing it on.
- Tips for a Van Gogh Vibe: Encourage them to make short, thick strokes. Show them how to layer colors directly on the paper instead of mixing them on a palette first. For an extra sensory kick, try mixing a bit of clean sand or salt into the paint to create even more amazing texture. Let them create their own starry night or a bouquet of impossibly thick, sunny flowers. The goal is to see the artist's hand in the final piece.
2. Georges Seurat: Create Magic with Pointillism
Step back from Georges Seurat’s masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and you see a beautiful, cohesive park scene. Step closer, and you'll discover a mind-boggling secret: the entire painting is composed of millions of tiny, distinct dots of color! This is pointillism, a technique where the artist uses small dots to form an image.
This is a fantastic activity for developing fine motor skills and patience. More than that, it's a magical introduction to color theory. By placing dots of different colors next to each other (like blue and yellow), kids will see how, from a distance, the eye optically blends them to create a new color (green!). It’s a live-action science experiment and an art lesson rolled into one.
How to try it with kids:
- Materials: Washable tempera paints, a paper plate for a palette, and paper.
- The Perfect Dotting Tool: The humble Q-tip is the perfect tool for young pointillists. The cotton tip creates a soft, round dot with ease. You can also use the eraser end of a pencil, the back of a paintbrush, or even just their own pinky finger.
- Tips for Dotty Success: Start with a simple outline of an object—a piece of fruit, a tree, or a basic shape. Encourage your child to fill the shape with dots of color. Remind them to just dip and press, not to drag the tool like a brush. Challenge them to fill one area with yellow and blue dots and then step back to see the green they’ve created. It's a "wow" moment every time.
3. Jackson Pollock: Unleash Energy with Action Painting
If your child has a little (or a lot) of pent-up energy, then Jackson Pollock is their new best friend. Pollock famously laid his giant canvases on the floor and moved around them, dripping, splattering, and pouring paint from the can. This revolutionary process became known as action painting, where the physical act of creating the art is as important as the finished product.
This is the ultimate process-over-product art activity. It’s about freedom, movement, and expression. It’s not about painting a "thing"; it's about capturing a feeling, an energy, a dance. For kids, this is liberating. There's no right or wrong way to do it, which removes any pressure to perform and opens the door to pure, uninhibited creativity.
How to try it with kids:
- CRUCIAL FIRST STEP: The Setup. This one has the potential for mess, so preparation is key. Head to the garage, basement, or lay a large, old sheet or plastic drop cloth outside on a covered patio. Have your child wear old clothes or a smock. This isn't a kitchen table activity!
- Materials: Large paper or an old cardboard box flattened out. For paint, use tempera or acrylics watered down to different consistencies (some thick like honey, some thin like milk) in old yogurt cups or bowls.
- Let Them Move: Lay the "canvas" on the floor. Give them sticks, spoons, straws, and old brushes to drip, drizzle, and splatter the paint. Put on some music and encourage them to move and dance around their artwork as they create. The joy is in the motion!
4. Henri Matisse: "Draw with Scissors" through Collage
Later in his life, when poor health made it difficult for him to paint, Henri Matisse didn't stop creating. He simply picked up a new tool: scissors. He began "drawing with scissors," cutting shapes from paper painted with gouache and arranging them into massive, vibrant collages. He proved that creativity knows no bounds.
This is a perfect, low-mess activity for a rainy afternoon. It teaches children about shape, color, and composition. Instead of focusing on realistic details, they can explore the relationship between bold, simple forms. For younger children who aren't yet confident with scissors, tearing paper is an excellent alternative that still achieves a beautiful, organic effect and builds hand strength.
How to try it with kids:
- Materials: A stack of colored construction paper, child-safe scissors, and a glue stick. A large piece of white or black paper makes a great background.
- The Process of Play: Encourage your child to cut out all sorts of shapes—wavy seaweed, simple leaves, circles, and abstract blobs—without a specific plan at first. The goal is to create a "palette" of paper shapes.
- Arrange and Rearrange: The magic happens before the glue comes out. Let them arrange their cut-out shapes on the background paper, moving them around, overlapping them, and seeing what compositions they can create. This step is crucial for teaching them about balance and negative space. Once they're happy with their design, they can glue it all down.
5. Piet Mondrian: Find Order with Grids and Primary Colors
Piet Mondrian sought harmony and order in his art. He boiled his visual language down to the absolute basics: straight vertical and horizontal lines, and the three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), plus white and black. His iconic grid-based paintings are a fantastic way to introduce kids to abstract art, geometry, and color theory in a structured way.
This technique provides a wonderful framework for kids who might feel intimidated by a blank page. The lines create a "coloring book" of sorts, but one they design themselves. It’s a lesson in restraint and balance, showing how even a few simple elements can create something powerful and visually interesting.
How to try it with kids:
- Materials: Sturdy paper, a ruler, a black marker, and paints or markers in red, yellow, and blue.
- The Tape Trick: For a super clean and satisfying result, use painter's tape to create the grid. Lay down strips of tape on the paper to create a pattern of intersecting lines. Then, let your child paint inside some of the rectangles with the primary colors, leaving others white.
- The Big Reveal: Once the paint is dry, help them slowly peel off the painter's tape. The reveal of the crisp, perfect white lines is a moment of pure magic and satisfaction for any young artist. It’s a trick we sometimes use in the Goh Ling Yong studio to introduce kids to the power of clean lines and negative space.
6. Claude Monet: Capture a Moment with Impressionism
The Impressionists, like Claude Monet, were radicals in their time. They left the studio and went outdoors to capture the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. Monet wasn't interested in painting a perfect, detailed water lily; he wanted to capture the impression of the light shimmering on the water's surface at a specific moment in time.
This technique is all about letting go of perfection. It encourages kids to paint quickly, using short, dab-like brushstrokes to build up color and light. It’s about seeing the world not as a collection of solid objects with hard outlines, but as a mosaic of shifting colors. Here at the Goh Ling Yong blog, we believe this is a key step in an artist's journey: learning to see differently.
How to try it with kids:
- Materials: Any paint will do, but watercolors or slightly watery tempera work well. A few different-sized brushes.
- Quick Strokes: Show your child how to load a brush with paint and make short dabs or quick strokes on the paper. Discourage them from trying to blend the colors perfectly on the page. Instead, let them place dabs of different colors next to each other.
- Paint the Rainy Day: What could be more perfect? Have your child sit by the window and paint the "impression" of the rainy world outside. They can focus on the blurry shapes of trees, the reflections in the puddles, or the streaks of rain on the glass. The goal is to capture a feeling, not a photograph.
Your Masterpiece Awaits
The next time rain clouds gather, don't see it as a cancelled playdate. See it as an appointment in your art studio. By channeling the spirits of Van Gogh, Monet, or Pollock, you're doing more than just keeping your kids busy. You're giving them a priceless gift: the confidence to experiment, the freedom to make a mess, the language to talk about art, and the memory of a grey day you filled with color together.
Art is not about creating a perfect replica; it's about the joy of the process, the thrill of discovery, and the story told by every drip, dot, and stroke.
Which master artist technique will you and your little creator try first? We would absolutely love to see your rainy-day masterpieces. Share them on social media and be sure to tag us
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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