Roar VBS: Bible Verse Canvas Painting

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We have done canvas painting for several VBS themes (see our Shipwrecked VBS canvas paintings here). They are always a favorite keepsake of our kiddos and parents! These sunset ombre canvas paintings are colorful and can be adapted to any night of Roar VBS! This can either be a two night craft for your kiddos, or you can have the kids do the painting and have your adults add the bible verse.

Supplies:

–Plastic tablecover
–Blank canvases or canvas boards (1 per kid)
–Matte acrylic paint (several shades: yellow, orange, red, pink, etc)
-Disposable plates or bowls for paint
–Foam paint brushes
–Black permanent markers

Instructions:

• Cover your tables or surfaces with plastic. I used a trash bag because I was only doing one canvas, but I’d suggest this affordable plastic tablecover. Put your sunset colors of matte acrylic paint in disposable plates or bowls for easy clean up.

• Give each kiddo a canvas. We’ve used various sizes of square and rectangle canvases over the years, as well as canvas boards (which have the same canvas fabric but it’s mounted over a solid board rather than a hollow frame). You can use any kind of canvas that fits your budget!
• Have each student write their name on the back of the canvas using a permanent marker.

• Instruct students to paint stripes of sunset colors using foam paint brushes, starting with the lightest color at the bottom of their canvas. I achieved the smooth ombre look by overlapping my colors a little.

• For a finished look, remind kids to paint the edge of the canvas!

• Let canvases dry. (I let mine dry about 5 hours before drawing on it, but it was dry to the touch after about 1.5 hours. If your kiddos use a lot of paint, the canvases will need to dry longer.)

• Have kids add a bible verse, bible point or other VBS phrase to their canvases using black permanent markers. I would suggest writing out some options of verses/phrases you’d like the kids to use on poster board or sheets of paper and hanging them in your craft area… that way, kiddos can copy down the bible verses/phrases without having to ask “what word comes next” and “how do you spell….” 158 times… not that I’ve had that happen or anything. (If you’re short on time, you could have adults complete this step.)

• Let kids add decorations to the canvas using permanent markers. I added stripes and drew triangle outlines, then added small dots by some of the letters. You might notice my 2 year old helped color in a few of the triangles! 🙂

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