Jun 13, 20222 min read

Easter Painting for the Littles

Heather McCoy wanted to find an activity for "the littles" while adults and older children folded palms and filled Easter eggs - a pre-Easter tradition at Ascension Lutheran Church in East Lansing, Michigan, where her husband serves as pastor. She chose four Easter-themed Sally Beck images from the Visual Faith® Ministry website, with the idea for children to paint them to be displayed as decorations in the gym for their upcoming Easter brunch.

In preparation for the activity, the images needed to be poster size. They were sent to Office Max and printed on 36x24 55 lb paper.

It was decided to mark off sections on each picture with painter's tape. "This was behavior management," Heather says, "to make sure that all the children had their own spot to paint." She credits her daughter Kaitlyn with the idea to criss cross the tape to create a stained glass pattern.

Heather posted about her idea on the Visual Faith® Minsitry Facebook page, explaining her idea and asking for advice on painting supplies. Her plan was to use watered down tempera paint (because they had some!) and provide sponge brushes to apply it. Within several hours she had received six replies and some very useful advice!

Heather used washable tempera paint, thinned down by mixing 2 parts paint with 1 part water. She appreciated the suggestions from Visual Faith® Facebook friends to add a drop of dish soap for easier clean up as well as to use makeup sponges for the painting - just the right size for little fingers to hold. (Thanks Colleen and Mary Joy!)

Paint smocks and old shirts were provided to protect the children's clothing from "paint-gone-astray!"

Each little artist took their painting job very seriously - there were even some "double dippers"!

We always say that visual faith processes are for all ages and, as you can see, even babies can participate in a painting project!

The watered down tempera paint was easy for the children to paint with and was transparent enough for the beautiful images and lettering by Sally Beck to show through.

The tape was then removed and the posters were framed for display.

These beautiful works of visual art - Easter messages of hope and joy, colored by the littlest members of this family of faith - brightened the walls and brought focus to the Risen Savior at their Easter breakfast gathering.

Heather shared that these poster paintings will remain up for the season and after that will be hung to brighten the walls in the church's cry room.

Thank you, Heather, for showing us that a simple idea with simple supplies can become a project for children that results in a beautiful message of blessing for all ages!