# Lazy Day Electronic Toothbrush Painting
> Dip an old battery-operated toothbrush in liquid watercolors, set it face down on butcher paper, and watch its vibrating bristles paint circles and swirls almost by themselves. A low-effort art project for a lazy summer day.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/art-activities-for-a-lazy-day/
- Ages: 3–7 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 5 min, activity 20 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: process-art, fine-motor, cause-and-effect, color-exploration
- Cautions: ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 piece Battery-operated electronic toothbrush (vibrating bristles)
- Liquid watercolors
- 1 sheet Butcher paper
- 1 piece Very smooth, flat table (outdoor) (household)
- Small cups for paint (optional) (household)

## Safety
- Use an old toothbrush that is only for painting. Never put it back in anyone's mouth, and remind kids not to mouth the painty brush.
- Keep the battery compartment closed and supervise so little ones can't get at the battery.
- Liquid watercolors can stain hands, clothes and surfaces. Work outdoors and cover the table.
- Supervise art play at all times.

## Steps
1. Cover a smooth, flat outdoor table with a single sheet of butcher paper.
2. Set out the liquid watercolors and the old electronic toothbrush.
3. Dip the toothbrush bristles into a liquid watercolor.
4. Switch the toothbrush on and place it bristles-down on the paper.
5. Watch it move. When it starts a semi-circle, gently nudge it to finish a full circle.
6. Re-dip the brush every now and then to keep the color going.
7. Try new colors and make overlapping circles.
8. Use very small, gentle nudges to steer the brush into swirly lines.
9. Step back and admire all the circles, swirls and lines on the paper.

## Tips
- For this to work you need a very smooth and flat surface. Keep the cover on the table minimal, because too many layers of paper make it harder for the brush to move.
- Thin paints work best, and liquid watercolors are your best bet.
- The top bristles make most of the marks.
- Very minimal, gentle movements give the best result.
- A couple of times the brush moved around and formed a perfect circle all by itself.
- The child can be as much or as little involved as they like. Of course most kids want to be VERY much involved.
- This one is really amusing. My older child was actually cheering for a while.
- A reader planned this as an outdoor birthday activity with all her daughter's friends, painting a giant card together. (from readers)

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

If you try this art activity, you will witness some tricks an electronic toothbrush can do - the way it can paint. Yes, toothbrush painting done by a toothbrush. Continuing with the toothbrush **[art activity](https://www.funlittles.com/july-4th-crafts-splatter-art-display-craft/)**, we did another art project using motorized toothbrush - the battery operated one with vibrating bristles. Accidents that turn into art activities are simply the best. Yesterday the spilled water on the black paper gave us a better colors. Few weeks ago the kids left a motorized toothbrush on during an art activity and that gave us an idea for another project. An idea I saved specifically for a lazy day! You know summer has been great with play dates, park, beach, ice creams and movies. After a while I burned out and wanted to take it easy at home in our backyard. But the kids are a different story, they want to do something fun and I really did not want to create elaborate art activities. I whipped out this easy project for that kind of day alone. You will need only liquid water colors, a table (outdoor) and an electronic toothbrush. We used an Oral-b Pulsar toothbrush to make the little guy paint for us..

In case you are wondering we used an old pulsar toothbrush.

 Notes: For this to work, you need a very smooth and a flat surface. Too many layers of paper will make it harder for the brush to move. I covered my outdoor table with a sheet of butcher paper and started this fun art activity. My preschooler dipped the brush into liquid water colors and placed he brush face down on the paper and watched it in excitement. The brush vibrates and makes a nice smooth movement around the table.

 The brush would begin to form a semi-circle and she would slowly nudge it to form a full circle. Couple of times the brush moved around and did form a perfect circle all by itself. Here are the three beautiful circles we created.

 She explored with many colors and tried forming overlapping circles.

 It was truly FUN to watch the toothbrush move around and paint by itself. She also re dipped her brush with paint every now and then to keep the color going. You will see that the top bristles are the ones which are mostly making the marks.

 She got the brush to make swirly lines patterns.

 The child can be as much or as little involved in this electronic painting art activity. Of course most kids would want to be VERY much involved. It also showed my kid to **make very minimal and gentle movements** to get the best result.

 A cool variation: Try to collect many electronic toothbrushes and let them ALL SPIN at the same time with different colors. OOh I'd love to try that! I would consider this as one of Easy Art Activities (or lazy!)

 *Recap of notes:* ***Flat. smooth surface with minimal cover on the table*** ***Thin paints- best bet liquid water colors*** ***Dip with colors during the process to keep the continuity of colors.***

Thanks for reading

Other art activities that might interest you!

[**Squirt Gun Painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/art-activities-with-squirt-guns/)

[**Throw Ball Painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/art-activity-throw-ball-painting/)

[**Popsicle Painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/toddler-activities-summer-art-activity/)

[**Cotton Rounds Painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/art-projects-for-preschoolers-and-toddlers-cotton-rounds-art/)

[**Tulips Painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-art-tulip-painting/)

Visit our [**art activities category**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) page