Paint Your Favorite Song!
Listen to your favorite song and create a painting inspired by its mood, rhythm, tempo, and lyrics, exploring color, texture, and personal expression.
Step-by-step guide to paint your favorite song
Keith Haring for kids! Learn about the artist and create your own masterpiece! #ArtForKids
Step 1
Spread a towel or newspapers on your table to protect it.
Step 2
Put your paper or canvas and paints on the protected surface.
Step 3
Choose your favorite song.
Step 4
Press play on the song.
Step 5
Listen to the song all the way through and notice its overall mood.
Step 6
Close your eyes.
Step 7
Imagine the colors and shapes the song makes you feel.
Step 8
Lightly sketch big shapes or lines on your paper with a pencil.
Step 9
Pick two or three main paint colors that match the imagined mood.
Step 10
Mix those colors on your palette to make lighter or darker tones.
Step 11
Paint your background with broad strokes and add repeating marks or shapes to show the song’s rhythm and tempo.
Step 12
Share your finished painting on DIY.org
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we use instead of canvas or a palette if we don't have them?
If you don't have canvas, use thick cardboard or printer paper on the protected surface, and use a clean paper plate, yogurt lid, or baking tray as a palette to mix colors.
My colors look muddy or the paint is too thick — what should I do during the mixing and painting steps?
If colors get muddy while you mix those colors on your palette, wipe your brush between mixes, add a little water or white to thin and lighten tones, and test on scrap paper before painting broad background strokes.
How can I adapt the activity for younger children or make it more challenging for older kids?
For younger kids pick a short song, use bigger brushes, fewer paint colors, and help with the light pencil sketch, while older kids can choose longer songs, experiment with mixing tones on the palette, layer glazes, and add intricate repeating marks to show complex rhythms.
What are some ways to extend or personalize the painting after finishing it?
After painting the background and rhythm marks, personalize the piece by adding collage bits or written lyrics, varnishing or framing it, creating a series for different songs, and then sharing the finished painting on DIY.org.
Watch videos on how to paint your favorite song
Let's Get Creative: Create a Painting Inspired by Music
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Let's Get Creative: Create a Painting Inspired by Music
Kids Art Lesson - Wassily Kandinsky Abstract Art
Eric Carle Inspired Art for Kids - Part 1
Kandinsky Art Activity: Painting Music
Facts about music-inspired painting for kids
🖌️ Abstract art is perfect for turning a song's feelings, rhythms, and textures into shapes, colors, and textures instead of literal images.
🔥 Color theory shows warm colors (reds, oranges) often feel energetic while cool colors (blues, greens) feel calm—great for matching a song's mood.
🥁 Fast tempos often inspire quick, bold brushstrokes; slow tempos invite smooth, gentle marks—rhythm can guide your painting style.
🎵 Some people with synesthesia actually see colors when they hear music, blending sound and sight in their brains.
🎨 Wassily Kandinsky painted many works inspired by music and believed colors and shapes could evoke musical sensations.
How do I do the "Paint Your Favorite Song" activity with my child?
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