Have you ever tried painting with peeps? These colorful little bunny marshmallows aren’t just a classic Easter treat, but they also make perfect stamps for Easter art!
Kids LOVE painting with Peeps
Like spotting candy canes in the store around Christmas, I love when Peeps pop up on shelves at Easter time.
How could I not? They’re colorful, bright, fluffy, happy little bunnies, making everything feel so “Eastery.”
I don’t love the taste of Peeps so I never used to buy them, but once I discovered painting with Peeps, I haven’t gone a single Easter without buying a pack (or three 😉).
Related: Looking for more Easter activities? A giant 10-foot Easter banner or Easter Egg Banner is perfect for your holiday fun.
Materials
Friends Art Lab is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about these links in my disclosure policy.
- Bunny Peeps – make sure to grab bunnies and not chicks
- Paint – any kid’s paint will work
- Plates
- Paper
- Art mat – optional
Directions
Add a shallow puddle of paint to a plate and place one Peep on top. Repeat for however many colors you are using.
Time to paint! Invite your child to lift a Peep, press it onto the paper, and then lift it to reveal their Peep stamp.
Encourage your child to stamp their Peeps more than one time after each paint dip and to notice what happens with each stamp (the colors will get lighter as you go).
You could also invite your child to use their bunnies like paintbrushes, making lines and strokes across their paper.
Once you’ve done painting with peeps, try these activities, too
You might find yourself with extra Peeps left over, but the good news is that there are so many other fun ways to use them.
- Peep patterns: Invite your child to create patterns as they stamp on their paper (ex: yellow, pink, yellow, pink). This would work well on long rolls of white paper.
- Float or sink: Invite your child to predict what they think would happen if a Peep was placed in water, then test it out. Next, invite your child to gather items from your home or classroom to see if they float or sink.
- Peep wrapping paper: Make the cutest Easter wrapping paper by stamping Peeps a long roll of white paper and saving it for wrapping presents.
- Peep play dough: I haven’t tried this yet myself, but it’s on my to-try list every year. Learn how to make Peep play dough (and let me know what you think!).
- Exploring Peeps in different liquids: What happens to a Peep if you leave it in water? What about vinegar? Check out this super cool Peep science activity.
How do you keep kids from eating the Peeps?
From jelly bean oobleck to candy heart ice cubes, there are tons of fun ways of using seasonal candies for educational activities.
Whenever we share these activities, tons of people ask how we keep kids from eating the candies.
The answer is two-fold: we don’t, then we do.
Let me explain.
When introducing an activity with seasonal candy, we allow the kids to try one or two before we begin (or a piece of a Peep). This takes away the forbiddingness and allure.
Then, we explain that the rest of the supplies are for the activity, not eating. We clarify that if someone starts eating more, they’ll be invited to do something else.
Because these activities are SO FUN, kids don’t want to have to leave.
With clear, consistent boundaries, we can do these activities with tremendous success, and I have never hesitated to do such activities.
Painting with Peeps FAQ
Any that can safely use the materials.
It sure is! Anything with stamping is a form of printmaking (my favorite type of art).
Process-art. No two pieces will look exactly the same, the most important quality of process-art.
Pepe Stickers