5 Quick And Easy Face Paint Ideas

Face painting is a great rainy-day activity - and it is also a brilliant way to have fun as a family during lockdown.

Rather than saving face-painting only for birthday parties and Halloween - why don't you get your paints out and start experimenting with new face painting ideas? We have gathered together a list of quick and easy face paint ideas, which could be done by an older sibling, or even parents who have no artistic ability.

There are lots of cat face paint designs to choose from, but this brilliant fox is quick and easy, and only requires three colours - orange, white and black. This easy design can be changed to suit your skill level, and it requires just a few simple tools: something that will cover large areas, like a sponge or large brush, as well as a smaller brush for adding finer detail.

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Blend the orange with some yellow to create an ombre effect - concentrate the yellow around the eyes, and get gradually darker/more orange towards the edges of the face).

Add white triangles on the forehead for the fox's 'ears', and using the smaller brush, finish the design with the black paint - adding a black nose, black dots on the cheeks and black outlines along the edge of the face and to define the ears.

This foolproof design transforms cute kids into playful puppies - and it doesn't require lots of colours, equipment or artistic skill. Start by painting the whole face with white face paint, adding on brown patches before finishing with finer details in black.

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Try painting a circular patch around one eye, and a longer, thinner 'eyebrow' shaped patch above the opposite eye. Whilst you don't want a symmetrical design, try to find a balance, so that there are some large patches and some small patches on both sides of the face.

Using the black, paint the tip of the nose and the lips - joining the two with a thin line in the centre of the upper lip. For a more professional look, add some small black dots on the upper lip, where the whiskers would be - as well as some short, black brushstrokes on the edges of the patches to create a fur effect.

If you have some googly eyes in your craft box, then this is the face paint design for you. For the snakes' 'face', simply paint all around the mouth using green paint, then paint a strip down the centre of the chin before curling the line upwards, so the green line snakes around the face. With a thin brush, use black paint to draw on an outline around the green shape, then stick the googly eyes onto the upper lip - one on either side of the mouth. To complete the transformation into a snake, kids just need to stick out their tongues and hiss...

Butterfly face paint is a firm favourite with kids - perfect for an afternoon playing in the garden, or at a birthday party or even for Halloween. Face painters can choose from hundreds of ideas and designs on the internet, changing the painting to suit the colours that they already have. Take a look at the three designs on Mom Junction for further inspiration.

Top Tips:

Start with a light colour, like blue, pink or purple, and paint on the first wing shape on the right-hand side of the face - if it helps, think of painting a 'B' or '3' shape - then simply mirror this shape on the other side of the face.

Instead of using black for the outline, try adding outlines and decoration in white - as it looks prettier and more delicate. Use a thin brush, and add dots onto the wings, as well as drawing a line around the edge of each wing. Paint a thick line down the centre of the nose, then add two thin lines with a dot on top for the antennae.

Face painting ideas are often split into designs for boys or girls - but this cool caterpillar is a brilliant design for both boys and girls, and it is super simple to paint.

Start by painting the caterpillar's body, which is a chain of interlinking green circles from the middle of one cheek to the middle of the forehead. Paint smaller circles on the cheek, gradually getting bigger and bigger, stopping once you have reached the forehead. To finish the face paint, use a small brush to add little lines for the caterpillar's legs, as well as a simple smiley face in the biggest circle. Watch Chloe Reed's video tutorial for more details - as well as tips for painting a rainbow and pretty flowers.

If you don't already own face paints, then try the all-natural kit from Natural Earth Paint, which contains six non-toxic paints and 3 bamboo applicators. The paints are made from clay and minerals - mixed with organic shea butter and castor seed oil - which makes the paints gentle on kids faces and skin, and they are very easy to remove - no scrubbing necessary!

Snazaroo has made some face painting pens which make it much simpler to create your designs. These paints are also free of parabens and fragrance,  these water-based paints are suitable for sensitive skin, and are easy to remove.

The best way to get a good result from your face painting is to use a picture to copy from. Try to find a high-quality photo to work from, print it out at a good resolution and then use it as a guide for your own painting... Take a look at the Hative website, who have put together a list of 30 cool face painting ideas to use as inspiration.

BeCraftee has a brilliant free ebook with lots of fun face painting ideas for kids. The book is split into easy, medium and hard face paint ideas that kids will love - with a design for every occasion, including princess, pirate, frog, rabbit - there are also Halloween face paint designs like a bat, witch and werewolf. Choose a design that suits your skill level, and follow the easy, step by step instructions to give your little ones a perfectly painted face.

Face painters who want perfect results could also use a template when face painting - which is particularly good if you have lots of kids who all want to have their face painted. Get the kids to draw or find a simple shape, design or outline, then simply print it out on thick paper or card and cut out the design. When painting the face, it's best to use a sponge or large brush as it is quicker and the stencil is less likely to move. Add more details on top with a brush to get a more professional look.