Due to the enormous amount of fun we’ve been having with face painting around here lately, I thought I’d let you in on a little secret I learned about a decade ago while teaching at the lab school. If you purchase an inexpensive set of Watercolor Colored Pencils
Here’s just a sample of where these pencils, plus a little imagination, have taken us in the past few days:
Arr, matey! Following my son’s very specific instructions, I created this pirate face. He loved that he could open his eye and still see “through” his eye patch. I loved that he had to work so hard to close just one eye at a time.
Here we have Harry Potter and “Harry’s hairy friend”. (That would be Hagrid.) Watch out for those magic, er, um, straws. These two were in their own world for quite some time. I was finally invited to join them as “the lunch lady” when they got hungry. I assured them I didn’t need a costume to pull that one off.
Is this the cutest doggie, or what? As an extra bonus, the squiggly fur lines helped camouflage the stereotypical bonks and scratches on his two-year old forehead.
The pencils are so easy to use and so low-mess I’m more than happy to let my boys use them independently. This is a design my six year-old made for my five year-old following his request to be a Bionicle. They were both pretty excited that his eyes were still “open” (hence the yellow) even when closed.
With just a pencil set, a cup of water, a washcloth, and a mirror you’re ready to go. Adding a little face paint to a child’s dramatic play can open up a whole new level of creativity and give a boost to their stories. Set up a face painting station in your kitchen or dramatic play area and watch the wheels of imagination start turning!
What’s your favorite go-to trick for enhancing dramatic play?
For more on the importance of dramatic play, check out this series of posts:
Enchanted Learning: The Benefits of Fantasy Play for Children
This looks like too much fun! I’ll have to go find us some watercolor pencils. My boys will love it!
P.S. Spiderman is a officially a “good guy” now . . 🙂
I was not aware of this trick for easy face painting. Thanks so much.
I think all the “faces” above are so cute but I must say the dog is my favorite!
Wonderful, simpler way to face paint those pirates! My students love arm painting and hand painting, too, to complete their looks 🙂 Thanks for the post!
hmmm, we do facepaint at our library but it’s rather on the messy/expensive/omg it’s not washing off side. Are you using a specific brand? Are they nontoxic? This sounds like something we could do for our Messy Art Club…
I’ve used the Crayola brand shown in the link, which are non-toxic. It takes a try or two to get the hang of it, but it really is just dipping the tips into the water and then drawing like you do with a pencil. (Just be sure you tap off the excess water so you don’t drip over what you’ve already done.) I hope it helps simplify your library facepainting!
What a great idea! I had no idea you could use watercolors! I am definitely doing this with my boys who are so desperate to face paint – and I will also use it at our afterschool program – I’m so excited!!
Great! I love this idea, what a way to express some creativity!
Thank you so much for this tip! I have bought facepaint before with good intentions and never actually done it because of the mess and blob of color I would end up with (how do you add detail with those things?). I bought some watercolor pencils at Michaels (only $3 for 24 pencils after their 40% off coupon!) and brought them out today when we had over 20 kids here for a Bubble & Water Party. It was a HUGE hit. We had kids drawing on kids, kids drawing on their moms, etc. You could actually tell what they drew too; it was great! Thank you again for the wonderful idea. I never would have thought of it on my own!
i have used this but i wonder if some watercolour art pencils can be bad for the face i only have WHsmith ones i cant find crayola? can they be Toxic?
Products vary from one company to another. It’s certainly wise to be particularly cautious with any product used on the face.