The Ultimate Solution to Painting-Related Spillages

We all know this scenario only too well. Child wants to paint. Mother agrees. Mother lays out newspaper over entire kitchen table, gets out paints and puts a small amount of water into a glass. It all looks harmless enough. Fifteen minutes later the child is soaked to the skin, the painting and the newspaper have formed a kind of papier mache mush and there are puddes on the kitchen floor. Mother swears that only crayons will be used for future pictures.

Sound familiar? Well, with this super-easy DIY no-spill water jar those days are gone. Roll on mess-free picture painting with your children.

Here's what you need:

A jam jar with a metal lid that screws on tightly

A screwdriver

A paintbrush

Water

Optional: A felt tip pen for writing on glass

Step 1: Screw the lid onto the jar. 

Step 2: Use the screwdriver to punch a hole in the centre of the lid. Remember to make it large enough for your child's paintbrush to fit through. 

Step 3: Remove the lid and use the screwdriver to flatten the sharp metal bits against the underside of the lid. The last thing you want is to avoid spilling water only to create sharp edges for small fingers to cut themselves on! Blood is not only thicker than water, it also leaves stains.

Step 4: Fill the jar with water until it comes about 1/3 the way up the jar. Screw the lid back on and turn the jar onto its side. If water spills out, it is too full. If water doesn't spill out, you have done everything right. Congratulate yourself.  

Yes, there is water in this jar.
More importantly, it is staying
in the jar.

Step 5: If you haven't got the water level right, just do a bit of trail and error work till you get it to the right level. 

Step 6: Mark the maximum water level on the side of the jar with a waterproof felt pen.