No Mess Painting – Bright and Colourful Canvas

We are exited to be taking part in our third season of Storybook Summer. For the past two years we have focused on dinosaur books – Three Little Dinosaurs Egg Rescue and Dinosaur Dig. This year we have turned our attention to an underwater themed story. It gave us an opportunity to make a No mess painting – Bright Stanley Canvas, based on the story Bright Stanley by Matt Buckingham.

Stanley and the rest of his shoal are the brightest, sparkliest fish in the whole of the dark sea. When Stanley wakes up late one morning he can not find his friends. The story follows his adventure as he looks for them. Each illustration of Stanley displays his amazing shiny scales. I knew our Bright Stanley Canvas would have to shine brightly.

Due to a Sensory Processing Disorder, my four year old son is not a huge fan of getting paint on himself. I therefore decided to create our Bright Stanley Canvas using the no-mess technique. Despite using six different types of paint during the project Adam didn’t get a single drop on him.

We have included links to the products and books used in this activity. If you buy from these links we may earn a small commission.

Materials needed for the No Mess Painting Bright Stanley Canvas:

30 x 40cm plain canvas (or bigger)

Contact paper

Permanent marker pen

Different shades of blue paint

Cling film

Ten flickering battery operated tea lights

Screwdriver

Different shades of orange and yellow paint

How to make the No Mess Painting – Bright Stanley Canvas

1. Make an outline of Bright Stanley on the contact paper. Cut out the fish, peel off the backing and secure it to the plain canvas.

2. Squirt different shades of blue paint around the canvas.

3. Lay cling film over the canvas. Either fold the cling film behind the canvas or secure it in place with masking tape.

4. Your little one can move the paint around with out getting their fingers messy. Squish the paint so the colours combine and cover the canvas which isn’t covered by contact paper. Don’t worry if the paint goes over the contact paper.

5. Peel off the cling film and allow the paint to dry completely.

6. Carefully remove the Bright Stanley shaped contact paper.

7. Position the ten flickering tea lights on the white space. Use a screwdriver to make a hole in the canvas. Push the light bulb through the hole so the tealight base is underneath the canvas. Repeat the process until all ten lights are positioned under the canvas. Then remove the flickering lights so you are left with ten holes in the canvas.

8. Place unpeeled contact paper on top of the canvas and draw around Bright Stanley. Cut out the fish so you are left with the outline. Peel the contact paper backing off and position the sticky contact paper onto the canvas.

9. Squirt different shades of orange and yellow paint onto the fish. Cover the canvas with clean cling film.

10. Get your little one to move the orange and yellow paint around until there is no white canvas left. Peel away the cling film and wait for the paint to dry.

11. Use a red permanent marker pen to add any additional Bright Stanley features. We used a white sticky label to complete his eye.

12. Push the tealights through the canvas and turn the lights on. Hang your painting and enjoy your Bright Stanley Canvas masterpiece.

Adam thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating our Bright Stanley Canvas. He was fascinated by the no mess painting technique and ended up using his fingers, hands and arms to spread the paint around. He was extremely proud of his masterpiece. His artwork is displayed in his bedroom and is used as a night light. It was a wonderful way to accompany the story whilst we read it at bedtime.

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