painted pots.

I always find that sick kids get to a point where they want to be busy, but are still pretty tired and can only do bits and spurts of things at a time. That is when I like to pull out a longer all day sort of craft. It is interesting, creative, requires short bursts of activity, and yet keeps kids engaged, even if they are not feeling so hot.


G was sick all last week and so we did a few projects like that. Our favorite was painting terra cotta pots. The boys have been interested in India lately, and so we have been checking out books on culture, history, food, holidays and more. A few books we have are huge and full of large vibrant photos - which made us all decide that we want to create an Indian theme on our deck this summer. So we need pots!


I usually have a bunch of terra cotta pots around for projects. In addition to their use as plant pots, they make great pencil holders, paintbrush holders, and candle holders!


Painting pots is easy. It just takes a few steps. We paint the base layer. Let dry. Paint any other layers or designs. Let dry. Varnish and let dry. You can find craft acrylic paint just for ceramics at most craft stores. While this project does need a grown up for setup and cleanup at each step, my boys were able to paint, stamp, decorate, and varnish pretty independently (although I did only put out one solid color at a time). I added a few little paint embellishments too, for fun.


They all look so great and will be perfect for holding individual herbs on our colorful deck this summer - and it is nice to paint and fill our home with such vibrant color in February!