Painting on Mirrors Process Art for Kids

Do you have kids at home that like to paint? We love to paint and painting on mirrors has been on my list to try for some time.

I try to find different ways to shake it up a bit and keep it interesting for the girls.  We’ve painted with trains and even done glow in the dark painting but today we took it outside and tried painting on a new surface: a mirror!

This open-ended art activity is all about the process because I’m a firm believer in process art for kids!  Process art is allowing kids to explore and create through art activities without a predetermined outcome.  As the name suggests, it’s more about the process of creating art than the product that’s created.  Check out this great post from Fun-A-Day for more on the importance of process art for kids.

Painting on Mirrors Process Art for Kids

All you need for this activity is a mirror, some paint, and a child that loves to paint! That’s it. No prep or set up required beyond pouring some paint. 

We took our painting outside since it was a nice day! Being outside lets the kids be even messier since there is no carpet to worry about. We have an outdoor art station so a lot of our art supplies are already outside. All I had to grab was a mirror. Easy peasy!

The warm sun added a new element to the painting process, it dried the paint much faster than my daughter was used to when we painted inside.  She spent time experimenting with how long it took to dry and how the paint moved and layered differently on the dry paint vs the wet paint. it added a whole science element to this activity! 

My daughter thought it was so entertaining to “paint” herself in the mirror! She kept laughing and saying she was so funny for painting her “mirror clothes.” Toddlers and preschoolers have endless creativity. This simple process art activity lets them explore it. 

We kept a bucket and washcloth handy so the kids could wash the paint off and start over if they wanted. It really was a big hit with my daughter and daycare children. 

We are doing this again tomorrow. It’s so easy but it really lets gets get in there and explore painting. Give it a try today!

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