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Circle Art For Kids: A Fun Process Art Activity

by Jean Van't Hul
May 15, 2025
circle art featured

This circle art project is a great open-ended art activity for kids with new tools, materials, and techniques added as interest demands.

Updated June 2025

We did a group art activity inspired by The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, and it turned into something truly special. What started as a simple invitation to paint, stamp, and draw circles on a large piece of paper quickly evolved in ways I never expected. We let the process lead us, and the results were both joyful and surprising.

Have you ever started an art project without knowing exactly where it was headed? That’s the beauty of process art—when you let go of specific outcomes and give kids the freedom to explore, amazing things can happen.

To set it up, we taped a couple of large sheets of paper to our kitchen table, laid out some watercolors, colored pencils, and a few round objects for tracing.

Then we curled up on the couch to read The Dot together. While the book is more about creative confidence than literal circles, it was the perfect jumping-off point for this open-ended exploration.

Circle Art For Kids

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MATERIALS

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Trace circle shapes

    First we traced plates and bowls and cups using both colored pencils and watercolors.

    circle art

  2. Add watercolor dots & circles

    Then we added some free-form watercolor dots and circles. Then we got out the compass and the kids tried their hand at it.

    Friends joined us for parts of the day, adding their own circles and marks.

    compass art

  3. Print additional circles with household objects

    A citrus juicer that I had put on the table to trace made great prints (a discovery by the 4 year old) which then led to more circle printmaking with sponges, buttons, a circle foam piece, and a couple of circle-shaped stamps.

  4. Splatter painting

    Finally some drippy brushes inspired (modest) splatter painting for small dots and circles. 

circle art featured

When we began, we had no idea that what we thought could be a simple art activity would turn into an all day affair (off and on) with so much experimenting with different art techniques and tools.

The moral of the story is to stay open to art surprises.

Open ended art activities for kids provide important learning experiences and are wonderful simply for enjoying the process of art making. Even if you’re following a specific art or craft project tutorial, though, be open to experimenting and going with the flow.

Have you had the experience of starting an art activity with your kids and having it evolve in ways you didn’t expect?

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Circle Art For Kids: A Fun Process Art Activity

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