Painting Topic Guide for Teachers

Paint is a coloured liquid that can be used to apply colour to a surface. There are lots of uses for paint, from painting cars to creating a beautiful picture.

Different types of paint have different properties. Watercolour paints are blended with water to give a transparent colour, whereas acrylic paints are opaque, and tend to have stronger colours.

Teach your children about painting using our handy topic guide!

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Teaching Ideas

Younger children can develop their brush control skills by working outdoors with brushes and soapy water.
Read Katie’s Picture Show, by James Mayhew, and try one of our teaching ideas linked to it.
Encourage children to explore colour mixing with this idea.
Watch this short BBC film about different painting techniques, and give children time to experiment with different media.
Ask children to paint the same subject in two different media, such as acrylic paint and watercolour. Compare the images, what effects do the different media have?

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Resources

Use our resource packs to study the lives and works of Leonardo da Vinci or Vincent Van Gogh.
Download our poster pack to show examples of landscape, portrait, still life and abstract art.
This resource from National Geographic allows children to explore the use of paint in an image of the Northern Lights.

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Painting Facts

The earliest cave paintings were made thousands of years ago, using paint made from natural materials such as charcoal and animal fat.
Paints used to be mixed with egg yolks. This type of paint is known as egg tempura. The egg dries quickly and binds the paint to the surface it is applied to.
Oil paint takes a very long time to fully dry out; some are not considered properly dry for years.
There are several different kinds of paint that artists can use, including watercolour, gouache, acrylic, spray paint and oil paint.
Paint is usually applied with a brush, but some artists use special knives. You can also use everyday objects like cotton buds, or even your fingers!

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