How to Paint Terracotta Pots with Kids

Hand Paint Terracotta Pots

Today I’m sharing how to hand paint a terra cotta flower pots with kids. While the project seems somewhat straightforward, I’ll share my favorite tips for choosing paint that will stick well and how to set up the work table for success.

When we were in Los Angeles last week, my mom came up with a fun project that included planting succulents in tea cups (along with the use of a power tool), and my kids were smitten.

Whilst prepping for a Girl Scout meeting, my older daughter thought we should recreate a simpler version of that project with her troop. And, voila, this project was born!

A Trip to the Nursery

First things first, we took a trip to the nursery to collect a flat of succulents.

Succulent means “juice,” and these fleshy plants retain enough moisture that they can go long stretches with very little water, the perfect plant for our drought-ridden community.

We got distracted by the bubbling fountains and gorgeous cacti, but then refocussed and left the store with what we came for: succulents and terra cotta pots like these (affiliate).

Back in the Studio

With my littlest helping out, we set up a painting area that looks like this:

Painting Tips

Use acrylic paint, a plastic-based paint that won’t wash out of clothes, but also won’t flake off of a flower pot.

Cover your work area since acrylic paint is almost impossible to remove from some surfaces.

Place a bowl of water (filled half way) and a towel nearby (to absorb water)

Set up the terra cotta pot upside down to make it more stable

Acrylic paint will wash off skin and shouldn’t stain.

Invite your child to paint!

The paint will dry quickly unless it’s thickly painted on. Ours was dry in under 20 minutes.

Fill with Soil

I worked with the nursery staff to come up with a good solution for succulent soil since they didn’t sell soil for that specific purpose. We settled on a mixture of potting soil and pumice rocks. The pumice (affiliate) aerates the soil and help keep the water running through. Important since succulents done want to sit in a lot of soggy soil.

Watch the video

Watch the video to see how it all came together!

This project was inspired in part by a new book (and #1 New Release) called The Garden Classroom (affiliate), a fantastic resource for families who want to use their gardens as a teaching and enrichment tool.

See my review of The Garden Classroom here.