Decorative Spatter Painting for Kids' Rooms

If you want to have some fun painting, get the kids in on the act, and try out this decorative spatter painting technique in their rooms

Painting a kids room can be a lot of fun, especially if you want to create a whimsical look. Getting the kids involved may include a little more mess, but they'll learn from it and enjoy the results when all is said and done.

Some decorative and faux painting techniques are easier to accomplish than others. We're going to cover the simplest one - spatter painting: it won't be a challenge, but will still have great visual appeal.

Remember, when painting: always have plenty of ventilation, especially for the kids. Open windows or set up a fan in the doorway. Avoid a direct breeze, which will cause the paint to dry too quickly and may cause a skin to form in the paint cans and trays.

Decorative spatter painting requires a solid base coat. You may want to make that an adult task before bringing in the troops. Follow basic preparation techniques for basecoat painting: tape off baseboards, doorframes and ceiling edges; remove switch and outlet plates (shut off the circuit to the room if you do this and then cover and tape over with bits of newspaper).

If possible, remove all furniture and cover the floors. At the very least, move furniture to the center of the room and protect with plastic.

Spatter Painting
This is the easiest and most free-form of all the decorative and faux painting techniques. It can also be the most fun for the kids. It's as simple as using a brush to flick specks of paint onto the wall. Very messy, but when done, the walls will look like they have been covered in cake sprinkles.

You can choose any number of colorful latex paints. You can water down the paint a little so it will be easier to spatter.

You will probably want to have everyone don latex gloves. Dip the brush in the paint and quickly "flick" the index and middle fingers across the top of the brush and away from the body toward the wall. You can have participants practice on a spare piece of cardboard first.

Don't load the brush with too much paint or you will end of up large blobs instead of tiny specks. If possible, apply one color around the room and wait an hour for it to dry. If you have more than one helper, assign a wall and one color to each child. While one wall is being spattered with a color, a second wall is receiving a second, and so on. By the time one wall is completed, it should be ready for the next color. Of course, adults will have to assist with the higher areas.

You might want to paint the switch plates in solid colors that match the spatters. These are easy enough to replace when it is time to make a change. Spatter-painted walls will also be easy to repaint when the time comes. (Note: this process is also referred to as "splatter" painting.)

This is great weekend project that gets the entire family involved, so the extra effort is worth the fun you will have together.