Bath Tub Art Studio

Bath Tub Art Studio | Mama Papa Bubba

Oh my goodness…  Sam had such a fantastic time in his little bath tub art studio this afternoon.  If you’ve ever wondered how to paint with your toddler without creating a total disaster, or if you’ve avoided toddler art projects all together because of the mess they make, this is for you!  Not only is the mess contained within the tub, but clean up is a total cinch and it’s never been easier to transition straight into bath time afterwards. Win!

Bath Tub Art Studio

{this post contains affiliate links}

Set up is easy too!  With the tub completely dried out, I threw the white shower curtain up over the bar, taped a few big pieces of art paper {CAN} onto the main wall using washi tape {CAN}, and another on the sloped side of the tub just for fun.  Then I set out our favourite Sax liquid watercolours {CAN} {which are SO worth the investment, btw} two ways – some in small easy-for-little-hands-to-use spray bottles {CAN} and some in a paint pot {CAN} with one of our favourite paint brushes {CAN}.  {Side note: Sax watercolours {CAN} are so concentrated that I almost never use them at full strength for painting.  The paint in both the pot and the spray bottles was probably about 1 part liquid watercolours to 3 – or maybe even 4 – parts water.} I also included a bowl of gem-shaped crayons {CAN} and a cup of Mr. Sketch scented markers {CAN} in the tub just for variety.

Bath Tub Art Studio

Sam didn’t need an invitation to get to it…

Bath Tub Art Studio

I asked him if he’d like help into the tub and then he was off.

Bath Tub Art Studio

In the background I had some chilled out classical piano music playing, which I just think is so lovely when kids are creating.  {I get asked a lot about the music I play over on Instagram and the answer is that we have the paid version of Spotify and several SONOS speakers (CAN) set up through the house.  It’s all set up wirelessly, so I control everything from my phone – the song selection, the volume, and which rooms it plays in.}

Bath Tub Art Studio

This was the first time Sam’s really used a liquid paint that he could just dip his brush into and my gosh – he had so much fun with it.

Bath Tub Art Studio

I just sat back and took it all in.

Bath Tub Art Studio

He was narrating his process, using a variety of strokes, lifting a single foot and hopping through parts of it…

Bath Tub Art Studio

And it was all so magical to watch.

Bath Tub Art Studio

Bath Tub Art Studio

Eventually he got to the spray bottles filled with liquid watercolours, which he’s been totally in love with since we snow spray painted a few weeks ago.

Bath Tub Art Studio

And oh, did he ever have fun with them!

Bath Tub Art Studio

Now if you know Sam well, you know that he’s be absolutely fascinated with colours for months now.  He can recognize and say red, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, grey, black, and white and though we’re still working on him actually saying the word ‘orange’, he can easily point to something orange when asked.

Well, this was one of my favourite moments… When his blue and pink spray paint overlapped and he pointed and exclaimed, ‘Purple!!’ without so much as missing a beat.  Talk about discovering colour theory in the most organic of ways.

Bath Tub Art Studio

Isn’t his artwork lovely?

Bath Tub Art Studio

The best part?  That all of the mess is contained and you can really just let them have the freedom to enjoy the process.

Bath Tub Art Studio

This independent art making went on for about 25 or 30 minutes {which I count as a total win as far as an activity for a just two year old goes} with Sam briefly asking for a cloth to wipe up the paint he’d gotten on the wall a couple of times.

Here’s a peek at him in action near the end of our bath tub art studio session…

Bath Tub Art Studio

Near the end of our bath tub art studio session, he noticed his hands were quite dirty and asked for them to be washed, so I set a bowl of soapy warm water down in the tub, which ended up extending his play even further.

Bath Tub Art Studio

He washed his hands, then his crayons, then his paintbrush, and then added some soapy wet handprints to his art work.

Bath Tub Art Studio Clean Up

As he finished with items, I slowly removed them from the tub one-by-one and placed them in the sink to deal with later.

Bath Tub Art Studio Clean Up

When supplies were basically gone and he confirmed that he was done with his art, I moved the pieces out of the way and into the hallway to dry.  Together we used the shower head to rinse off the tub and walls {the liquid watercolours come right off – no scrubbing required – and create the most beautifully coloured stream running towards the drain} and then I popped the stopper down and began filling up the tub.

As that happened, I helped Sam take off his diaper and onesie, and straight into bath time we went!

Bath Tub Art Studio Clean Up

As he played in a tub full of clean water, I stood at the sink and rinsed our supplies off, set them onto a towel to air dry, and that was it.  Clean up complete!

Bath Tub Art Studio | Mama Papa Bubba

We’ll definitely be creating in our bath tub art studio again very soon!

Are you following us on social media?  Find us on:
Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Twitter

We’d love to have you!

3 thoughts on “Bath Tub Art Studio

  1. great idea, I will definitely try this out! I do think though you should add a recommendation of a bath mat to put down to reduce the chance of slipping in the tub. thanks for your efforts to share here!

  2. i guess u well trained them, no a single paint mark on his clothes. my son would have painted himself first and than the rest..

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.