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Home / Early Learning / Preschool Arts and Crafts / Catapult Painting – Super Fun Art Activity for Kids!

Catapult Painting – Super Fun Art Activity for Kids!

Shared by Mary Catherine 2 Comments

I taught three preschool camps this summer with an awesome co-teacher (I shall dub her Ms. Smarty Pants)!  She and I had fun planning great experiences for the kiddos, and we both enjoyed ourselves immensely.  One of my favorite parts of the camps was a unique, and oh-so-fun, art activity for kids!  It may be my favorite because it involved a catapult!  Yes, you read that right — a catapult!

Catapult painting - fun art activity for kids

Related: Easy Art for Kids with Dot Art

Table of Contents

  • use a catapult to create a unique art activity for kids
  • Done-for-You Preschool Resources

use a catapult to create a unique art activity for kids

Now, I cannot take responsibility for the catapult.  That was all Ms. Smarty Pants’ idea, and her mother-in-law ran with it and created something awesome!  The plans they used to build the catapult came from Storm the Castle, so be sure to check out the ideas over there.

The homemade catapult we used in this super fun art activity for kids

In addition to catapulting water balloons and pompoms, we came up with an awesome art activity for kids to get into!  And adults, too, as I had just as much fun as the kiddos.  🙂  It all started with my exclamation of, “Catapult painting!!  We should totally use the to catapult paint!”  My preschoolers loved our gravity painting experiment, so I thought they’d have fun with the catapult too.  Ms. Smarty Pants, the enabler that she is, said it sounded like a grand idea.

What we used
I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
An awesome homemade catapult inspired by Storm the Castle
Large pompoms
White butcher paper
Liquid watercolors

What we did
Ms. Smarty Pants and I taped a large piece of butcher paper to the playground shed.  Then I placed a few squirts of liquid watercolors into some small bowls.  Of course the children were dying to know what we were doing.  My response of, “painting with the catapult!” was met with giggles.

The kiddos loved this catapult art activity for kids

Related: Messy Art

The kiddos dipped large pompoms into the paint, then placed the pompoms into the catapult’s bowl.  We worked together to bring the bar down, then let it go after a count of three!  We then watched with excitement as the pompom made a paint splat on our paper!

Pretty patterns were a result of our catapult art activity for kids!

In case you’re wondering – yes, the watercolors came off of the shed!  We simply hosed it down when we were done.

Our catapult art activity for kids was definitely a success

Oh how we all enjoyed creating a splat-filled masterpiece using paint, pompoms, and a homemade catapult.  I think this counts as an incredibly fun art activity for kids – what do you think?  Would you give it a go?

Just for kicks, I checked to see if anyone else had tried this.  I came across Child Central Station’s painting with individual catapults!  Be sure to check out how they got into this unique art experience.

Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week, all while balancing other teaching responsibilities and a personal life, can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!

Preschool Teacher 101 is excited to share with you some amazing lesson plans, activity packs, and much more! We offer a wide variety of themes that are frequently used in preschool classrooms, as well as some less common (but super interesting) themes. Click on the images below to learn more about some of our STEM resources!

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My Community TEM Challenges
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World Bridges STEM Challenges

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Filed Under: Preschool Arts and Crafts

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  1. Georgina @ Craftulate says

    August 15, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    This looks like seriously good fun!

    Reply
  2. JDaniel4's Mom says

    August 17, 2014 at 7:13 am

    Thank you for sharing this post on The Sunday Showcase! My son is going to love trying this!

    Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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