Start the school year with creativity. Watercolor lessons help families ease into learning through color, patience, and brush control, no pressure, just fun. Perfect for deschooling or winding down from summer, these 23 printables and tutorials bring joy to the first days of homeschooling.
Blend schoolwork with art to create the homeschool experience you've always dreamed of, where learning feels like an adventure and every brushstroke sparks curiosity.
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Table Of Contents
The Top 6 Free Watercolor Resources For Your Kids
1. Watercolor and Pen Flowers, Easy First Day of School Art Project
Loose watercolor washes meet crisp pen linework for a flower project simple enough for a first watercolor lesson, but pretty enough to actually want to hang on the fridge. Get the project
2. Watercolor Technique Lesson Ideas with Free Printable Template
Three techniques, one afternoon: wax resist painting, salt textured sea turtles, and an outdoor plein air session, plus a printable template so nobody has to stare at a blank page wondering where to start. Get the lesson ideas
3. DIY Watercolor Paint from Scratch
Turns the pantry into an art supply store. Kids mix up their own watercolor paint from scratch, so the science lesson starts before the brush ever touches paper. Get the recipe
4. Bubble Snake Watercolor Printing
A sock, a bottle, and a little breath turn into a bubble blowing machine, and the bubbles themselves become the paintbrush. Expect a mess. Expect a genuinely cool print by the end. Try the activity
5. Watercolour Monster Blowing Art
No brush required. Kids blow paint through a straw until it spreads into wild, wiggly shapes, then add a pair of eyes to turn the splatter into a genuinely silly monster. Try the activity
6. Watercolor Techniques Guide for Kids
A straightforward guide that walks kids through wet on wet, dry brush, and other basics one technique at a time, so splashing paint around turns into actually understanding what each move does. Read the guide
Free Watercolor Printables
24HourFamily, 15 Watercolor Templates Printables PDF · Printable templates pack · Get the templates
Watercolor for Kids with 2 Free Downloads: Kids Watercolor Project Cards and Color Mixing Activity Sheet · Project cards and color sheet · Get the downloads
Free Hands-On Watercolor Activities
Art and Science for Kids: Watercolors and Oil · Watercolor and oil experiment · Try the activity
Coffee Filter Flowers with Liquid Watercolor · Coffee filter flower craft · Try the activity
Exploring Absorption with Watercolors on a Texture Board · Texture absorption experiment · Try the activity
Messy Little Monster, Easy Watercolor Painting for Kids · Simple painting ideas · See the ideas
Little Bins for Little Hands, 15 Easy Children's Watercolor Art Projects · Fifteen project ideas · See the projects
Painting Salt Dough Ornaments with Watercolor · Salt dough ornament craft · Try the activity
Shaving Cream Marbled Watercolor Paper · Marbled paper technique · Try the activity
Watercolor Paint Fabric Art · Painted fabric craft · Try the activity
Adventure in a Box, Watercolour Cityscape with a Printable Prompt · Guided cityscape project · Try the activity
Free Watercolor Video Tutorials
4 Watercolor Techniques, Tips for Art Teachers · Four technique demos
Art for Kids Hub, How To Paint With Watercolor (for kids) · Beginner painting lesson · Watch the video
How To Draw a Sea Turtle Kids Watercolor Tutorial · Sea turtle painting tutorial · Watch the video
Easy Watercolor Bird Painting Tutorial for Kids · Bird painting tutorial
Dragonfly Kids Watercolor Tutorial · Dragonfly painting tutorial · Watch the video
How to Draw and Paint a Bouquet of Flowers · Flower bouquet tutorial · Watch the video
Find more watercolor resources on our Pinterest board!
Thank you to Tina & our awesome Pinterest team for curating these awesome resources every week!
Check Out This Week's Featured Homeschool Resources
 | Discover Summer Schoolhouse — Summer Schoolhouse offers simple summer learning without the overwhelm. The free Starter Pack includes a week of science activities, a printable planner, and a mini guide to stop burnout, plus a reading challenge and book clubs for kids. |
 | Summer Reading Log — Motivate your kids to read this summer with these free reading logs. Kids color a sun for every day they read. Includes printable trackers for June, July, and August, plus goal setting sheets, gameboards, and reward coupons for a fun summer reading challenge. |
 | Diverse Reading Bingo — This reading bingo challenge invites students to explore stories from different cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives. Kids work toward bingo by reading across a variety of diverse books. It's a fun, low-pressure way to broaden reading choices and spark conversations about the world. |
 | "I Hate Math" Survival Kit — Math tears to math cheers. This kit reframes math as something beautiful and fun. Practical tools and a fresh perspective to help your family enjoy the subject. Kids have been known to ask for more. |
 | Roar into fun with cute dinosaur coloring pages. Download free playful dinosaur printables, perfect for kids who love T-Rex, Triceratops, and all things prehistoric! These silly, friendly dinos are ready for your child’s imagination. Color them green, pink, or rainbow. Pair with dino books or toys for extra adventure. Instant PDF fun awaits. Start coloring today! |
 | Step into Ancient Worlds Without Leaving Home! This full-year homeschool course brings Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome to life through vivid storytelling, art, and daily life discoveries. Includes free timeline and glossary. Just $26.91 for a year of unforgettable learning. Get It on Amazon. |
We Need Your Help Building This Year's Guide
Every August, a wave of brand new homeschool parents opens our Back to Homeschool issue with the same question: what should I actually buy? They have a budget, a nervous stomach, and a hundred websites all claiming to be the answer.
They don't need another sales pitch. They need to hear from you.
That's what the Homeschool Quest Curriculum Awards are. Not a panel of reviewers picking winners, but hundreds of real families saying what held up in their house. Every day for the next two weeks, we're posting a new category in the Facebook group and asking one question: what actually worked for your family?
You don't have to answer all of them. Pick the one you have strong feelings about and comment there. One honest answer helps.
The most useful comments name the resource, say what ages it worked for, and give one sentence on why it stuck. Something like, "Explode the Code, used it with my 6 and 8 year old, short lessons meant no meltdowns." That kind of detail is what a beginner is desperate for.
This week's questions:
What's your favorite All-in-One curriculum?
What's your favorite Reading and Phonics program?
What's your favorite Spelling and Vocabulary resource?
What's your favorite Typing program?
Twenty categories total, with a fresh question posting every day through August 1st. Keep an eye on the group so you catch the ones you care about.
Every answer gets counted, and the winners will be posted in our August Back to Homeschool magazine. The resource that saved your school year could be the one a new family finds on day one.
If your favorite hasn't been mentioned yet, go say so. Nobody else is going to speak up for it.
Find Even More amazing homeschool resources!
Free Story Response Activity for Ages 7-10 — This 8-page printable sample from Emma's Rainbow Slide gives kids a screen-free way to respond to what they've read. Includes two story sections, guided reading questions, and two coloring pages for a calm follow-up activity. → https://smll.ink/Free-Story-Response-Activity
Connect with Homeschool Families Near You — VillageGather's free plan includes family and child profiles, approximate location privacy, and up to 6 suggested matches. Save profiles, send intro requests, and decide when to share contact info. Block, report, and visibility controls help you connect with nearby families safely. → https://smll.ink/villagegather
Free Rainforest Science Unit: 80+ Pages of Fun! Explore climate zones, seven major rainforests, and unusual plants/animals with hands-on activities, a board game, and review pages. Includes a free digital escape room for 3rd–6th graders. Zero cost, zero prep, Just print and learn! → https://smll.ink/rainforest-science-activities
Spanish Bingo is a printable game set for learning pet vocabulary in Spanish. Print the bingo sheets, color the pictures, and listen to the MP3 audio for proper pronunciation before you play. It's a fun way to build vocabulary while gameschooling with the whole family. FREE Download → https://smll.ink/spanish-bingo-pets
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