DIY Childrens Drawing Board (Treasure Map Example)

 

I'm an artist, so when my sister in law asked if I could paint her little son a treasure map I was excited!

The painting is on a 16" by 20" canvas, done in acrylic. I finished the painting with a weathered look by gently rubbing the edges of the canvas with a peice of fine sand paper and staining the entire painting with about 8 black tea, tea bags.

 Image (1) up above is the picture of my painting up to that point. 

Of course, a treasure map is never complete without it's red "X". 

I wanted to figure out a way so that the treasure map could be interactive with my little 3 year old nephew, so what did I do to complete his pirate themed gift?

__  get a colored copy of my painting on paper
__  laminate paper copy
__  pair with a box of dry erase crayons (dry erase crayons work PERFECTLY with the laminated surface, YAY!).

This way he can make his own treasure adventures over and over again. An added plus, when he turns the map over he automaticallly has a perfectly blank white drawing surface to draw on too! 

The great people at Office Max was able to make this all possible and totally inexpensive, $6 if I remember right, $9 total including the crayons!

Image (2) shows you the quality of the print after being laminated. I was beyond excited with how it turned out!

The final and last step is to finish the painting with its own red trail and "X". Unfortunately I gift wrapped the present before taking a photograph of the completed painting but, you can use your imagination. ;)

You can get anything laminated! Try drawing out a simple outline of an animal or face, laminate and watch your children draw all kinds of amazing things! The limits are endless! 

Remember, never forget to express yourself and keep inspiring the world to create and imagine.

Thanks guys!

Bye for now!