Our grandkids love to do crafts with me, especially the four year old. I have been trying to come up with fun things to create so I can also include the one year old. She is such a good helper but I think that the crafts that we have been making aren’t on her level yet and she gets bored easily.
When I saw the canvas tape resist art paintings on Pinterest, I knew that our one year old granddaughter could get involved and paint to her hearts content. The best thing about this project is that the messier they are with the paint, the better the painting will be!!

Another win with this project is that our four year old grandson absolutely loved it too. He was thrilled with how it turned out and was ready to paint some more. Little does he know but I have a whole lot more painting fun planned for the summer. I can’t wait!!
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Here are all the supplies needed to make these fun and very inexpensive canvas art paintings:
- 16 x 20 White Canvas
- Thin painters tape
- Acrylic paint (assorted colors)
- Foam brushes (I prefer a 2 inch brush but any size will work)
That’s it!! That is all of the supplies that you will need for this project. It’s so easy and inexpensive.
Time to make your tape resist art canvas painting creations:
Remember to lay paper or newspapers down if you do this project inside because it can get messy!

The first thing to do on this project is to use the painter’s tape to form the child’s name on canvas. You can also use masking tape if that’s what you have on hand. Tear or cut off some tape to form each letter.

This could take some trial and error depending on how big the name is. We had to shorten our granddaughter, Charlotte’s, name to Char because it wouldn’t fit on the canvas.
Don’t worry about making the letters perfect. The fun part is to see the letters almost like a child drew them onto the canvas.
Press the edges down as securely as you can to prevent the paint from bleeding underneath.
Once the letters have been taped, the kids can have some fun! Pour the paint into some paper plates and let them get creative. They can paint the whole canvas one color or several different colors. We painted each letter a different color for a fun effect.


We included a little heart on the canvas and our grandson also decided to dip his hands into the paint to make some handprints in different colors. He’s so creative!
After the paint has completely dried, it was time to peel the tape and reveal their name.

This was such a fun and simple project. Any project where I can involve 2 out of 3 of my grandchildren where everyone has fun and enjoys the process is priceless to me.
Another great thing about this project is that it builds their reading and color skills too.
I asked my grandson what letters we need to make with the tape to spell his name and he pointed exactly where they need to go and knew all of his letters.

He also picked out the paint and named the colors as he was painting. I have been wanting to do some more learning projects with them and this was perfect.
Different ways to make the tape resist art paintings
If you want a quick and easy project for your child, you can also use card stock or other heavy paper to make the tape paintings. I would suggest that you use strictly painters tape though because that is the easiest to remove from paper without risking the art be ruined by tearing.
Another fun way for the kids to create the artwork is to tape the area and use markers or pens to color over the tape. Then peel the tape and reveal the white name underneath.
You can also make artwork without a name. Spread pieces of tape all over the canvas and create an abstract work of art. The more colors that you use, the better.
What to Do With Your Work of Art?
Most of the time, I would suggest that you have bins for each child to fill with their art. However, this project is too big to fit in small paper bins. You can either hang it on the wall or another idea is to find a big storage bin that would hold the bigger projects with their name on the bins.
My daughter in law said that she’s going to hang them on the wall for now while the kids are young. It makes for fun artwork for the walls.
Tape resist art paintings on canvas is a great way to bond and get creative with the grandkids.This craft is perfect for messy play and learning letters.
If you want to see a video on how we made this project, check out my latest YouTube video:
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