Listen, I am not an artist or Martha Stewart, nor am I vying for any Pinterest prizes. I don’t have time for elaborate art projects or crafty things for the kids. In my world, if it takes the adult longer to plan and prepare than it takes the kids to execute, the adult is losing. I prefer winning and this gem is winning…

So my kids love to paint, which we do with some frequency. Usually good old printer paper and cheap watercolors. But every now and then we bust out a canvas because 1. they think it’s really special and it makes them really happy and 2. canvases can be really, really cheap when on sale at Michaels. And they think it’s special for two reasons…it is “real art” and we hang them on the wall in our hallway (I have got to get a picture of that to share!). They absolutely love having their art displayed and, if I’m honest, I do too…my favorite walls in the whole house are the hallway filled with my kids paintings!

But anyway, I digress, as usual. We didn’t have a ton of time today so instead of everyone getting their own canvas, I wanted them to work on one. Have you ever tried to get a 3, 4.5, and 6 year old to work together on a painting? Yeah, don’t try it. Unless you do this:

Everyone absorbed in their work!

You’ve seen it on Pinterest, I don’t need to give you detailed directions – just use painters tape to tape off a letter (or shape or design) on a canvas, give them some paints, and let them go to it! There was some concern from the oldest that all the colors would mix together to make “mud” so we picked to use just cool colors, which I think was an excellent choice. They really had a good time, took the job quite seriously, and the finished product is fantastic – one of my favs because I know they all worked together on it! They were SO excited to peel of the tape and then even more excited to show their dad when he got home from work. I cannot wait to get this one up on the wall! 🙂

The finished work of art! A true Masterpiece!