Banana Leaf Painting: Baby & Kids Art Activity

Banana Leaf Painting

Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Art Activity

Ages: 6 months (or sitting) and older

Kiss Art Activity:

Most of our go-to baby and toddler art activities either involve painting or adding water to things. Both are extremely simple and thoroughly exciting. One of the days we were walking back from the park and our neighbors were trimming their banana leaf plant. These huge beautiful leaves were cut off and I had the idea to use them as a canvas for a fun baby and toddler art activity. The kids each picked a leaf of their choice and they ran home excited to paint them. We have done our fair share of nature painting with sticks, rocks, and bark, but we have never painted a leaf of this size! Painting is a simple and fun activity, but there are so many ways to take it up a notch by just expanding what you use to paint with or paint on. By taking items in nature or repurposing items around the house makes for an adventurous and satisfying art experience. This is one of those activities you keep outside because it is sure to cause a mess. To replicate this activity at home, this is what you need:

Art Activity Supplies:

1.       Banana leaf, or something else large, bark from palm trees work well and other large leaves.

2.       Paint of your choice

3.       Paint brushes

4.       Tarp or do the painting on grass

Instruction:

Let the kids pick their own leaf, paint, and way to paint it. My kids took turns using paintbrushes, hands, and even feet. They had a blast painting the banana leaf because of its large surface. We kept the painted leaves outside to dry and then I let them pick a place in the backyard to leave it as decoration. We then turned it into an experiment to see how many days it took to dry out. The kids each wrote down their guess and we checked on the leaves daily to slowly watch it turn from soft and green to a hard brown leaf.

Easy art activities are all around and usually do not require much preparation, expertise, or money to have an enriching and fun experience. What are some of your favorite art activities that you have done with your little ones?

For more nature inspired art activities check out Nature People.

Looking for more advice? Check out Parenting Hacks for the Car! Follow us on Instagram, & Pinterest!