Liquid watercolours are hands-down my favourite art material in the whole world. If you've ever visited Smudge, you've seen them everywhere. In our paint cups, our sensory bins, our potion stations, our spray bottles. They are absolutely central to what we do.
And I genuinely think every home with kids should have a set.
What are liquid watercolours?
Unlike the hard pans or tubes of watercolour paint you might remember from school, liquid watercolours come in bottles as a concentrated liquid. You can use them straight or dilute them with water for softer tones.
They're vibrant, transparent, and incredibly versatile. They behave differently to poster paint or acrylics. The colours blend beautifully, they're light on paper, and they create effects that are genuinely stunning, even for very young children.
Why I love them for kids
The colours are extraordinary. Even diluted, they're rich and vivid. Kids don't need to use much to get a beautiful result, and the way colours blend on wet paper is pure magic.
They're forgiving. Because they're transparent and fluid, there's no "wrong" way to use them. Drips, splatters, puddles. It all looks gorgeous. This makes them perfect for process art, where the focus is on exploration rather than a finished product.
They clean up easily. They're water-based and wash out of most fabrics and off most surfaces. (Always check, but in our experience they're significantly easier to manage than poster paint.)
They last forever. A little goes a very long way. We buy ours in bulk and dilute them, and a set lasts us months at the studio.
Our favourite ways to use them
Dropper painting
Fill pipettes or droppers with different colours and let kids drop them onto wet paper. Watch the colours bloom and merge. Mesmerising.
Spray bottles
Dilute the watercolours in spray bottles and let kids spray onto large paper, fabric, or even snow. The coverage is beautiful and the experience is incredibly satisfying.
Sensory play
Add a few drops to water play, rice, or oats for beautifully tinted sensory bins.
Colour mixing
Pour small amounts into cups or ice cube trays and let kids mix their own colours. The transparency of liquid watercolours means the colour mixing is much more visible than with opaque paints.
Potion stations
This is a Smudge favourite. Set up jars, bottles, funnels, and ladles with water and liquid watercolours. Add petals, herbs, or glitter. Kids will play for hours.
Where to buy them
We use the Discount School Supply brand at Smudge, but there are lots of good options available in Australia. Look for concentrated liquid watercolours (not just watered-down poster paint, which is a different thing entirely).
A set of primary colours plus a few extras (turquoise, magenta, gold) will give you endless mixing possibilities.
A small investment, a big impact
If I could only recommend one art material for families, it would be liquid watercolours. They open up so many possibilities, they're beautiful to work with, and they make creating feel effortless and joyful.
Grab a set, dilute them into some little cups, lay down a drop sheet, and watch what happens. I promise you won't regret it.