Make silly paint splat monsters with kids! This easy Halloween craft uses paint, a spoon, googly eyes, and markers for a fun preschool art activity.
Paint Splat Monsters Craft for Kids
These silly paint splat monsters are a fun and easy Halloween craft for kids! Made using washable paint, a spoon, a straw, and googly eyes, this colorful monster art activity is perfect for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and elementary-aged kids.
If you’re looking for a creative Halloween craft that lets kids experiment with paint and use their imaginations, you’re going to love these paint splat monsters!
Kids start by using a spoon to splat paint onto paper. Then, they use a straw to blow the wet paint around, creating all sorts of interesting shapes and textures.
Once the paint dries, the real fun begins!
With a few googly eyes and colorful markers, kids can transform their paint splats into silly monsters with pointy horns, wiggly arms, funny teeth, and crazy hair.
The best part? No two monsters will ever look the same!
This is a great Halloween process art activity for preschool classrooms, kindergarten art centers, Halloween parties, or a fun afternoon of screen-free crafting at home.
Why We Love These Paint Splat Monsters
There are so many reasons to love this easy Halloween monster craft!
- 🎨 Encourages creativity: Kids get to design their own monsters using unique paint splat shapes.
- 👀 Every monster is different: The unpredictable paint splats make each creation one of a kind.
- 🖌️ Fun painting techniques: Using a spoon to splat paint and blowing it with a straw makes this activity extra engaging.
- ✋ Builds fine motor skills: Splatting paint, gluing googly eyes, and drawing monster features help strengthen hand coordination.
- 🧡 Perfect for Halloween: These colorful monsters are silly rather than scary, making them ideal for younger kids.
- 🏫 Great for classrooms: Finished monsters make an adorable Halloween bulletin board display.
I especially love that this craft doesn’t require a printable template or complicated preparation.
Just set out the supplies and let kids get creative!
Supplies You’ll Need
You only need a handful of basic craft supplies to make these silly paint splat monsters.
- White cardstock
- Washable tempera paint in assorted colors
- Plastic or metal spoon
- Drinking straw (or a child-safe air blower)
- Googly eyes in assorted sizes
- Black marker
- Colored markers
- Protective covering for your work surface
Craft tip: We recommend using good quality cardstock instead of regular printer paper for this activity. It’s sturdier and holds up much better to the paint, especially when kids start splatting and spreading it around.
How to Make Paint Splat Monsters
Ready to make your own collection of silly monsters? Follow these simple step-by-step instructions!
Step 1: Add Paint to Your Paper
Start by squeezing a small amount of washable tempera paint onto a sheet of white cardstock.
We used bright colors like purple, blue, red, and yellow to make our monsters, but kids can experiment with whatever colors they like.
You can even try adding two colors together to see what happens when they mix!
A little paint goes a long way, so there’s no need to squeeze out too much.
Step 2: Splat the Paint With a Spoon
Next, grab a spoon and use it to splat the paint onto the paper.
Kids can gently tap, press, and spread the paint with the back of the spoon to create an irregular monster body.
This is where the fun really begins!
Some splats will turn out round and chunky, while others will have long, unusual shapes.
Encourage kids to experiment with how they move the spoon to see what kinds of shapes they can create.
There’s no right or wrong way to make a paint splat!
Step 3: Blow the Paint With a Straw
While the paint is still wet, it’s time to add even more interesting texture.
Using a straw, gently blow air across the pooled paint to push it outward in different directions.
As the paint moves, it creates funny streaks, spiky edges, and unusual shapes that are perfect for monster bodies.
Kids can experiment with blowing from different directions to see how the paint changes.
This is such a fun way to introduce cause and effect because children can immediately see how moving air changes the shape of their paint splats.
Important safety tip: Closely supervise children when using straws near paint. Remind them to blow outward only and never suck paint into the straw. For younger children, an adult can use a bulb air blower instead.
Step 4: Let the Paint Dry Completely
Once kids are happy with their paint splats, set the paper aside and allow the paint to dry completely.
Depending on how much paint was used, this might take a little longer than a typical painting activity.
We recommend letting the paint dry fully before moving on to the decorating stage.
This prevents markers from smudging and helps the googly eyes stick properly.
Step 5: Add Googly Eyes
Now it’s time to bring those colorful paint splats to life!
Using a small amount of white school glue, attach googly eyes to each dried paint splat.
Kids can add one giant eye, two mismatched eyes, or even three eyes if they want to make an extra silly monster.
We used a variety of googly eye sizes to give our monsters lots of personality.
Encourage kids to experiment with where they position the eyes. Sometimes just moving the eyes around can completely change how a monster looks!
Step 6: Draw Silly Monster Features
This is my favorite part of the activity!
Once the googly eyes are in place, give kids black and colored markers and invite them to turn their paint splats into silly little monsters.
They can add all sorts of funny features, including:
- 👹 Pointy horns and spikes
- 🦷 Sharp teeth and goofy smiles
- 🌀 Curly hair and antennae
- 🖐️ Long, wiggly arms
- 🦵 Short legs and giant feet
- 👟 Striped socks and silly shoes
- 💜 Funny noses and colorful tongues
Encourage kids to look closely at the shape of their paint splat and use it as inspiration.
Maybe a round orange splat becomes a monster with giant striped horns, while a long purple splat turns into a creature with curly hair and pointy teeth.
The possibilities are endless!
Step 7: Display Your Finished Monsters
Once all the details are finished, your paint splat monsters are ready to show off!
Hang them on the refrigerator, display them in a classroom, or create a colorful Halloween bulletin board filled with silly monsters.
You can even invite kids to give their monsters funny names and invent little stories about them.
We love how every single monster turns out completely different!
Tips for Making Paint Splat Monsters With Kids
Here are a few helpful tips to make this Halloween painting activity even easier.
Use washable paint. Spoon splatting can get messy, so washable tempera paint is a great choice, especially when working with preschoolers.
Protect your work surface. Cover tables with newspaper, a plastic tablecloth, or scrap paper before getting started.
Start with a small amount of paint. You can always add more if needed. Too much paint can make the paper soggy and increase drying time.
Experiment with different spoon movements. Tapping, pressing, and dragging the spoon through the paint will create different shapes and textures.
Don’t skip the drying time. The paint should be completely dry before kids start drawing their monster features.
Let kids make the creative decisions. Rather than asking them to copy an example, encourage them to create their own funny monster characters.
Can You Make Paint Splat Monsters Without a Straw?
Absolutely!
If you’re making this craft with younger preschoolers or would prefer to skip the straw-blowing step, you can still create wonderful paint splat monsters using just a spoon.
Simply squeeze a small amount of paint onto cardstock and encourage kids to use the back of a spoon to splat, press, and spread it into interesting shapes.
They can experiment with different amounts of pressure and spoon movements to create all sorts of funny monster bodies.
For a similar blown-paint effect without using a drinking straw, an adult can use a bulb air blower to move the wet paint around.
Once the paint dries, follow the same steps to add googly eyes and silly monster features.
Learning Benefits of Paint Splat Art
These paint splat monsters aren’t just a fun Halloween craft. They’re also a wonderful way to encourage creativity and develop important early childhood skills.
Fine Motor Development
Using a spoon to splat and spread paint helps children practice hand control and coordination.
Gluing googly eyes and drawing small monster features also gives kids an opportunity to strengthen the fine motor skills they’ll eventually use for writing.
Cause and Effect
One of the most exciting parts of this activity is discovering how paint moves!
Kids can experiment with different spoon movements and observe how blowing air across wet paint changes its shape.
It’s a simple, hands-on introduction to cause and effect.
Creative Thinking and Imagination
Because every paint splat turns out differently, children have to use their imaginations to decide what kind of monster to create.
A pointy splat might inspire a monster with giant horns, while a round splat could become a silly creature with oversized feet.
This open-ended approach encourages creative problem-solving and self-expression.
Language Development
Turn this Halloween craft into a fun storytelling activity by asking kids to describe their finished monsters.
- What is your monster’s name?
- What does it like to eat?
- Is it friendly or mischievous?
- Where does it live?
These simple questions encourage conversation, descriptive language, and imaginative storytelling.
Color Recognition and Counting
You can also use this activity to practice basic preschool skills.
Invite kids to name the paint colors they’re using, count their monster’s eyes, or compare the number of arms and legs on different monsters.
It’s an easy way to incorporate early learning into a creative art project!
Fun Monster Books to Pair With This Craft
One of my favorite ways to extend a craft activity is by pairing it with a fun children’s book.
These monster-themed picture books would make wonderful read-alouds before or after making your paint splat monsters.
1. Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley – This interactive picture book introduces a silly monster one facial feature at a time. It’s a perfect pairing for this craft because kids can use the story as inspiration when drawing their own monster faces.
2. The Color Monster by Anna Llenas – A colorful story about a little monster learning to understand his emotions. Pair it with this activity and encourage kids to create monsters that represent different feelings.
3. Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda – This playful book explores different emotions through colorful monster characters. It’s a great way to encourage children to think about facial expressions as they decorate their paint splats.
4. The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone – Grover tries everything he can to stop readers from turning the pages in this funny, interactive classic. A wonderful choice for a silly monster-themed craft session.
5. Love Monster by Rachel Bright – A sweet story about a funny-looking monster who wants to find someone to love him. It’s a lovely reminder that being different is something to celebrate.
6. Monster Trouble! by Lane Fredrickson – A funny and imaginative story about a little girl who finds a clever way to handle the monsters that keep bothering her at bedtime.
Our favorite pairing: Go Away, Big Green Monster! is especially fun for this activity because children can think about the different facial features from the story while creating their own silly monsters.
More Halloween Crafts and Activities for Kids
If you loved making these paint splat monsters, here are a few more easy Halloween crafts and activities to try!
- 🎃 Paper Plate Pumpkin Craft – Kids use torn paper to create a colorful pumpkin craft that’s perfect for practicing fine motor skills.
- 🧟 Fork Painted Frankenstein Craft – Another fun painting activity where kids use a fork to create Frankenstein’s wild, textured hair.
- 🧙 Fork Painted Witch Craft – Make a friendly Halloween witch with colorful fork-painted hair and a paper hat.
- 👻 Torn Paper Ghost Craft – This simple ghost craft is a great way for little hands to practice tearing and gluing paper.
- 💚 Torn Paper Frankenstein Craft – A silly Frankenstein craft that combines torn paper with creative Halloween fun.
- 🧡 Halloween Name Crafts – Help preschoolers and kindergarteners practice spelling their names with these fun Halloween-themed crafts.
- 🎨 Halloween Crafts and Activities for Kids – Browse our complete collection of easy Halloween crafts, printable games, and creative activities for kids.
Have Fun Making Your Own Paint Splat Monsters!
These silly paint splat monsters are proof that some of the best Halloween crafts are also the simplest!
With a little paint, a spoon, a few googly eyes, and lots of imagination, kids can create a whole collection of colorful monsters that are completely their own.
I especially love how this activity combines painting, experimentation, and creative drawing into one easy project.
Whether you’re planning a preschool Halloween art activity, a kindergarten classroom craft, or some screen-free fun at home, these paint splat monsters are sure to be a hit!
Looking for more fun crafts and activities for kids? Come find us on Facebook and Pinterest where we share easy crafts, free printables, and creative screen-free activities all year long!
