Now that the weather is warming up, do you need a fun, messy DIY activity that teens can do outside? Look no further! Check out this paint slip and slide idea from the youth ministry folks at Saddleback Church.
Paint Slip and Slide: “You Are His Masterpiece”
We have a student-run ministry team at Saddleback Church called Create Ministry. Twice a month, the ministry hosts an “Open Studio” event. We invite all the artists in our ministry to work on their art and hang out with other artists. Because creative-types can be tough to reach sometimes, this is an awesome way for shy students or new students to connect with our ministry.
I recently challenged the student leader of Create to think outside the box. I wanted to do an activity that was brand new to us. She came up with a really cool idea, inspired by a blog post she saw. It’s called a paint slip and slide!
This is exactly what the name implies. Basically, it’s a Slip-n-Slide that is primed with many colors of paint instead of water. At the end of the slide is a big white sheet. On it are the words “You Are His Masterpiece” written in tape.
Here’s the idea: One at a time, teenagers take off running toward the paint-filled tarp. Then they slide down to the end, while covering various body parts with paint. Next, they simply roll onto the white sheet and “paint” using their body as the paintbrush. Some of our kids finger-painted, some walked on it, and others rolled on it. No matter the method, each person had a blast.
After the paint dried, we took off all the tape. The end result looked incredible! Then we found a place to hang the colorful creation in our youth area.
A Free (or Low-Cost) Idea for Youth Ministry Fun
One of the best parts about this paint slip and slide idea is that it’s totally FREE (for us at least)! We made the slide from extra tarps that a student had in his family’s garage. And one of our youth families provided the old sheet for the “You Are His Masterpiece” project.
We asked kids who attended the event to bring some cheap, washable, non-toxic paint. That way it washes off and doesn’t kill any grass or plants. You can find cheap paint like this at Walmart. Again: Make sure to use washable and non-toxic paint!
From our group’s event, I came away with two big highlights.
