art printables

Art Printables

Art Printables include downloadable and ready-to-use templates, patterns, and resources that make art accessible and easy to implement for groups, classrooms, or home use. These printables are ideal for all ages and abilities, helping participants experiment with colour, shapes, and patterns in a structured, approachable way.

Projects include using templates for collaborative paintings, Pattern Play exercises, or individual art activities. Facilitators, educators, and families can use printables to guide creative sessions without needing extensive preparation, making creativity quick, fun, and stress-free.

The free guide provides expanded support with tips, prompts, and strategies to make the most of printable resources in group or individual settings.

All of these projects use my Pattern Play Collaborative Art approach — a fun, inclusive process that encourages Messy Playing, Exploring, and Bling to help participants of all abilities create expressive, collaborative artworks. Get your free guide to start.

Printable Pattern Prompts for Collaborative Painting feature image showing the We Talk Together group artwork with Pattern Play Cards from the Pattern Play Collaborative Art Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art at PaintingAroundisFun.com

Printable Pattern Prompts for Collaborative Painting – Free PDF

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

The printable pattern prompts PDF about collaborative painting gives teachers, facilitators, and parents step-by-step tools to lead group art sessions with confidence. Using my Pattern Play framework, you’ll discover how simple patterns and prompts can spark creativity and collaboration for all ages. With over 60 collaborative sessions under my belt, I’ll help you guide kids of all ages to create fun, meaningful artworks using my Pattern Play framework. Explore 200+ articles on this site for practical tips and inspiration.

Want easy printable pattern prompts to guide your group art sessions?

Printable Pattern Prompts for Collaborative Painting – What’s Inside

This free PDF includes printable pattern prompts and clear instructions for running collaborative painting projects. Ideal for classrooms, after-school programs, and community groups, it provides everything you need to start engaging, inclusive, and fun group art activities.

Get Your Free Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art

About this Free Group Art Guide:

My 25-page free Pattern Play Guide gives you everything you need to run fun, inclusive collaborative art sessions:

Step-by-step instructions for your first group painting
Beginner-friendly patterns and prompts
Simple materials list and setup tips
The three-stage approach: Messy Playing → Exploring → Bling!

Perfect for teachers, facilitators, families, or anyone wanting to bring a group together through art.

Pattern Play Collaborative Art quick start activity creating a gift bag.

First Pattern Play Page laying on a cool underpainting, showing simple marks, circles, and patterns for beginners

Step-by-Step Group Art Guide: Pattern Play Method

Follow the Step-by-Step Group Art Guide: Pattern Play Method to guide participants through Messy Playing, Exploring, and Bling! stages. Each stage flows naturally, building confidence and visual richness, and is perfect for adapting to your group setting.

1. Messy Playing

Encourage free mark-making and experimental painting (examples are in the PDF)
Use large brushes, textured sponges, or sgraffito to create a playful base with big shapes and clusters of simple marks
No rules! The goal is fun, getting comfortable with materials, and moving around the artwork

2. Exploring

Introduce simple patterns — dots, spirals, waves, zig-zags — for participants to repeat or combine using the Pattern Play prompts in the Beginner’s Guide
Let painters choose from three colours, paint in different sizes, and embrace overlap, giving individuality within the group framework
This stage builds confidence and encourages creative exploration

3. Bling!

Add final details: highlights, embellishments, and decorations with paint pens or stick-on gems
Focus on finishing touches that make the artwork pop
Celebrate contributions by photographing or displaying the piece — hide first names as “secret details” in larger projects

Tip: Each stage flows naturally — don’t rush. Let participants enjoy the process and notice how the artwork evolves together. Think of it as slow creativity over three or more sessions (perfect for lesson planning and guiding students through a creative process).

Exploring and Bling can be repeated multiple times to build layers, visual richness, and sophistication.

See What’s Possible:

Forbes Vacation Care collaborative artwork created by 30 R–6 students in a single day using Pattern Play’s Messy Playing, Exploring, and Bling stages.

Find Your Courage collaborative mural painted by 20 teenage girls using Pattern Play’s Messy Playing, Exploring, and Bling stages. Three girls are shown actively painting.

‘Growing Together’ – 30 students from R–6 created a vibrant 1×1m artwork in one session.
‘Find Your Courage’ – painted by 20 teenage girls using Pattern Play’s three fun stages.
‘Aspiring to Success’ – created by 120 junior school children in three sessions over three weeks (detail).

If they can do it, your students can too!

Happy Painting,

Charndra

Your Inclusive Social Art Guide

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

You’ll get weekly creative tips and group art ideas from me.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a special offer inside.

Your guide arrives instantly after you confirm your email.
Unsubscribe anytime.

Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art – step by step guide with Pattern Play Page and Cards

Prefer not to join the email list?

You can get the stand-alone PDF edition for a small one-time fee.

Click for the self-guided PDF edition of the Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art

Explore More Collaborative Art Ideas:

Pattern Play Starter Pack – bundle of Pages Vol 1, Cards Vol 1, and Colour Schemes Vol 1 for collaborative art

Pattern Play Starter Pack – Everything You Need for Collaborative Art Projects

Includes four essential resources:

Pattern Play Pages – Vol 1 – Sets of 5 patterns per page, perfect for groups, classrooms, workshops, group murals, and special needs groups
Pattern Play Cards – Vol 1 – Individual patterns on cards, ideal for hands-on prompts, rotating ideas, or painters exploring favourites
7 Group Art Colour Schemes – Vol 1 – Ready-to-use colour combinations that always work for collaborative art
Pattern Play Colour Cards – Vol 1 – Printable and portable colour inspiration for any group art project

Perfect for teachers, facilitators, and art lovers who want ready-to-go tips, patterns, and colours.

Some visitors prefer to jump straight in — the Pattern Play Starter Pack gives you everything upfront and organised for easy collaborative art.

See What’s Inside the Starter Pack

Collaborative Art PDF for Beginners feature image showing a finished group artwork with Pattern Play Cards on top from the Pattern Play Collaborative Art Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art at PaintingAroundisFun.com

Collaborative Art PDF for Beginners – Free Guide for Your Group Art Projects

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

Collaborative Art PDF for Beginners gives you an easy start to leading group art projects with confidence. I’ve facilitated over 60 community and school-based collaborative art projects with more than 2,000 participants, and I want to help you do the same with my helpful digital resources. Using my simple Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework, you’ll discover step-by-step ways to guide teachers and groups to create fun, meaningful artworks together. Explore 200+ articles on my site, all packed with practical tips for collaborative art.

Looking for an easy way to run collaborative painting sessions with your students or group?

Bring creativity, colour, and connection to your classrooms, early childhood settings, community groups, and adult workshops. My free Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art (PDF) gives you everything you need to start, even if you’ve never facilitated collaborative art before, as it’s beginner-friendly!. It’s suitable for all ages and all abilities, an infinitely adaptable framework to creating eye-catching and unique group paintings.

What’s Inside Your Free Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art

Inside this 25-page PDF, you’ll find everything you need to run fun, inclusive collaborative art sessions:

Beginner-friendly Pattern Play prompts: simple ideas to spark creativity
Three-stage framework: Messy Playing → Exploring → Bling!
Materials tips: easy-to-source supplies for effortless setup
Inclusive strategies: support participants of all skill levels
Step-by-step instructions for your first group painting

Perfect for classrooms, early childhood settings, community groups, and adult workshops, these projects are simple, engaging, and fun.

Step-by-Step Group Art Guide: Pattern Play Method

1. Messy Playing

Encourage free mark-making and experimental painting (examples are in the PDF)
Use large brushes, textured sponges, or sgraffito to create a playful base with big shapes and clusters of simple marks
No rules! The goal is fun, getting comfortable with materials, and moving around the artwork

2. Exploring

Introduce simple patterns — dots, spirals, waves, zig-zags — for participants to repeat or combine using the Pattern Play prompts in the Beginner’s Guide
Let painters choose from three colours, paint in different sizes, and embrace overlap, giving individuality within the group framework
This stage builds confidence and encourages creative exploration

3. Bling!

Add final details: highlights, embellishments, and decorations with paint pens or stick-on gems
Focus on finishing touches that make the artwork pop
Celebrate contributions by photographing or displaying the piece — hide first names as “secret details” in larger projects

Exploring and Bling can be repeated multiple times to build layers, visual richness, and sophistication.

See What’s Possible:

If they can do it, your students can too!

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

You’ll get weekly creative tips and group art ideas from me.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a special offer inside.

Your guide arrives instantly after you confirm your email.
Unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer not to join the email list?

You can get the stand-alone PDF edition for a small one-time fee.

Click for the self-guided PDF edition of the Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art

Explore more collaborative art resources:

Pattern Play Starter Pack – Everything You Need for Collaborative Art Projects

Includes four essential resources:

Pattern Play Pages – Vol 1 – Sets of 5 patterns per page, perfect for groups, classrooms, workshops, group murals, and special needs groups
Pattern Play Cards – Vol 1 – Individual patterns on cards, ideal for hands-on prompts, rotating ideas, or painters exploring favourites
7 Group Art Colour Schemes – Vol 1 – Ready-to-use colour combinations that always work for collaborative art
Pattern Play Colour Cards – Vol 1 – Printable and portable colour inspiration for any group art project

Perfect for teachers, facilitators, and art lovers who want ready-to-go tips, patterns, and colours.

Some visitors prefer to jump straight in — the Pattern Play Starter Pack gives you everything upfront and organised for easy collaborative art.

See What’s Inside the Starter Pack

Bold blue text reading “collaborative art printables” sits above a colourful collaborative artwork in progress, with paint, paint pens, and Pattern Play Cards placed on top for inspiration.

What Are Collaborative Art Printables and How Can They Make Group Creativity Easier?

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

Collaborative art printables make it simple to run confident, inclusive group art sessions, and in this post you’ll learn how to use them effectively with the Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework via this round-up post linking to many related articles. Drawing on my experience facilitating over 60 community and school-based collaborative art projects with more than 2,000 participants, I’ll show you practical ways to use printable patterns, templates, and colour resources in your own setting. You’ll discover how teachers, facilitators, and instructors can use these tools to make group creativity easier, more engaging, and genuinely fun. Visit my Collaborative Art Shop anytime to learn more about my Pattern Play products.

How Do Printable Patterns, Templates, and Colour Resources Support Inclusive Collaborative Art Projects?

Collaborative art printables make it simple for any group, classroom, or community program to start creating together – even if you’re short on time, materials, or even art experience. These ready-to-use resources give you clear, accessible starting points such as accessible. tested patterns, templates, and group art colour schemes that help participants of every age and ability dive into the creative process with confidence.

In this post, you’ll find a collection of projects, ideas, and guides that show you exactly how to use printables to support group artwork, Pattern Play sessions, or individual creative moments. Every example is built on my Pattern Play Collaborative Art approach — a fun, inclusive process with three stages: Messy Playing, Exploring, and Bling. It’s designed to make group art easy, structured, and enjoyable while still leaving room for spontaneous creativity. Visit my Collaborative Art Shop to read more in the product descriptions. Join my email list below to receive my free ‘Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art’ with starting versions of all my art printables to get you started and as obsessed with group painting as I am!

If you’re looking for simple, effective tools that help people create together, the printables highlighted below will give you everything you need to get started.

Teenagers’ hands working together on a tabletop collaborative artwork, using Pattern Play printable patterns as inspiration during the painting process. — Teenagers collaborate on a group artwork using Pattern Play printable patterns for guidance and inspiration.

Discover more projects and artworks using my Pattern Play Art Printables:

Discover how to do collaborative art. Welcome to Painting Around is Fun!

Hello World! Welcome to Painting Around is FUN!

Intro to collaborative art printables and the Pattern Play approach. Free guides and resources help teachers, facilitators, and families start inclusive, group art projects quickly.

Highlight: Pattern Play Shop

Collaborative art in progress using Pattern Play Pages Volume 1 with warm colours and strangers painting together.

Easy Pattern Play Pages: Simple Pattern Art Ideas to Download

Beginner-friendly collaborative art printables to spark creativity in groups. Perfect for teachers, facilitators, and families, these downloadable resources make group painting fun and accessible for all ages and abilities.

Highlight: Pattern Play Pages

Pattern Play Colour Cards – all 21 group art colour schemes with how-to cards as portable collaborative art resources

Pattern Play Colour Scheme Cards – Inspiration Hub

Explore downloadable collaborative art printables with all 21 Pattern Play Colour Cards, perfect for guiding colour choices in group projects. These resources help schools and community groups run fun, inclusive, and visually striking art sessions, with a link to the 7 Group Art Colour Schemes for quick-start options.

Highlight: Pattern Play Colour Cards

Small children painting together on a large cool-colored canvas, applying patterns with big brushes and playful strokes.

How to Create a Pattern Play Collaborative Artwork in 3 Simple Steps

Learn the Pattern Play method with simple steps and collaborative art printables. Guides for group projects make it easy for facilitators to inspire fun, inclusive creativity.

Highlight: Pattern Play Cards

Detail of the Community artwork created by 600 members of the public over two weeks during an Artist in Residence program at Westfield Marion.

Community Art Made Simple With Pattern Play

See how collaborative art printables make community art projects for groups easy and engaging. Examples from a 600-participant artwork show how anyone can join in creative play.

Highlight: 7 Group Art Colour Schemes

Printable Pattern Play Cards Volume 1 featuring simple, inclusive pattern prompts for collaborative art projects. Perfect for educators and facilitators seeking beginner-friendly art resources.

Printable Pattern Cards for Art Projects (Perfect for Teachers, Facilitators & Parents!)

Flexible downloadable art resources for groups of all ages. These collaborative pattern cards make Pattern Play sessions fun, beginner-friendly, and easy to run.

Highlight: Pattern Play Cards

Collaborative art printables remove the guesswork from group creativity, giving you flexible resources that work in classrooms, community programs, family settings, and anywhere people gather to make art. Whether you’re guiding a Pattern Play session, planning a group mural, or offering a calming creative activity, these printables make the process smooth, accessible, and fun for everyone involved.

If you’d like deeper support, tips, and examples, download my free guide — it expands on the Pattern Play stages and shows you how to get the most from any printable resource. You’ll be ready to run group art sessions with confidence and spark creative connection wherever you are.

Happy Painting!

Charndra
Your Inclusive Social Art Guide

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

You’ll get weekly creative tips and group art ideas from me.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a special offer inside.

Your free guide arrives instantly after you confirm your email.
You can unsubscribe anytime.

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

🎨 Easy Pattern Play Pages Vol 1: Simple Pattern Art Ideas to Download

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

Easy Pattern Play Pages make starting group art simple and fun. I’ve guided over 60 community and school projects with more than 2,000 participants, using my Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework to spark creativity in every group. In this post, you’ll discover how to use these ready-to-go pages—and I want to help you do the same with my helpful digital resources.

Beginner-friendly printable pattern prompts to spark creativity in any group – kids, adults, and both!

Teenage girls working together on a school mural using Pattern Play Pages Volume 1 in vibrant colours.

Looking for an easy and engaging way to bring creative fun to your next group painting session? Whether you’re working with kids, adults, or a mix of both, Easy Pattern Play Pages offer a flexible and inclusive way to get started with collaborative art.

Designed to help anyone feel confident making marks, these reusable printables are perfect for schools, community programs, families, or facilitators wanting to run relaxed, beginner-friendly art activities.

Pattern Play Pages Vol 1 – 10 themed pattern sets with how-to resources for collaborative group art

About Pattern Play Pages:

These Pattern Play Pages are a downloadable collection of hand-drawn pattern ideas to print and use as visual prompts. With 10 sets of themed, high-contrast, beginner-friendly patterns, you’ll be ready for endless collaborative art projects — and they’ll all turn out unique!

🎨 What’s included:

10 printable Pattern Play Pages in PDF format
Each has 5 accessible patterns with a fun name
High-contrast, hand-drawn patterns designed for clarity and accessibility
Printable in black-and-white, on A4 paper
Ready-to-use in classrooms, workshops, at home, or community projects

🖌️ Why you’ll love them:

No artistic experience required — perfect for absolute beginners
Great for creating inclusive, collaborative art with groups
Use them over and over again for unique outcomes every time
Loved by teachers, facilitators, and parents
The exact same resource I’ve used in over 150 artworks!

🧠 How they help:

Reduce fear of the blank page
Encourage pattern play, layering, and mark-making
Prompts for playful creativity – great inspiration!
Help groups build a shared visual language through painting

Just print and play — no prep required!

🤝 How Pattern Play Collaborative Art Supports All Abilities

Pattern Play is designed with inclusion at its heart:

Messy Playing – Everyone can join in, regardless of ability. Big brushes and simple shapes like circles or waves make participation easy and pressure-free.
Exploring – The patterns on Pattern Play Pages are from hand-painted images and are intentionally simple. Whether tracing, painting, or drawing freehand, there’s a way for everyone to use them.
Bling! – Embellishment can be as minimal or detailed as each person wishes. Paint pens are the easiest media to use. Dot stickers, glitter glue, or gold accents make the final artwork shine – with or without fine motor skills. A fun variety of Bling elements is really engaging to the painters. (I keep what we’ll use as surprises!)

🧡 The focus is on process, play, and shared joy — not perfection.

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

You’ll get weekly creative tips and group art ideas from me.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a special offer inside.

Your guide arrives instantly after you confirm your email.
Unsubscribe anytime.

Collaborative artwork created with Pattern Play Pages Volume 1 by strangers working quietly together in cool colours. — Focused creativity – strangers painting together using beginner-friendly patterns.

Toddler and small child using Pattern Play Pages Volume 1 to create a collaborative artwork in cool colours. — Even the littlest hands can join in the fun of collaborative art.

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

🎨 Pattern Play Colour Scheme Cards — Inspiration Hub

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

Colour cards are a simple way to spark creativity and inspire group art. In this post, you’ll discover how to use Pattern Play Colour Scheme Cards to guide students and groups in creating fun, colourful artworks. I’ve facilitated over 60 community and school-based collaborative art projects with more than 2,000 participants, and I want to help you do the same with my helpful digital resources using my Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework.

Creative ideas, project inspiration, and updates for the Pattern Play Collaborative Art Colour Scheme Cards: Pattern Play Colour Cards

Whether you’re exploring colour in group art projects for the first time or already using the cards in your projects, this page is your hub for inspiration.

Here you’ll discover:

Artworks inspired by each colour scheme
Sneak peeks of future palettes and inspirations
Exciting extras coming in upcoming volumes of my 7 Group Art Colour Schemes resources

Scroll down to explore the galleries and see how each colour scheme comes alive in real collaborative art projects with regular people just like you, your kids, students or friends!

Colour Scheme Project Galleries

Explore how each colour scheme (or ‘palette’) has been used in collaborative artworks. These galleries showcase a mix of projects and ideas to spark your own creative experiments.

From 7 Group Art Colour Schemes Vol 1:

✨ Forest – Tranquil, rich, and deeply connected to nature.

Final Bling stage of a Pattern Play Collaborative Art piece in cool Forest colours, adding detailed accents and contrast.

Peer Support community art project with cool colours by 16 people of all ages and abilities

✨ Mermaid – Ocean blues with warm tropical hues, flowing and serene.

Cool pastel A6 artwork made by a family group for a charity exhibition, using the Pattern Play method.

Incognito Mermaid collaborative artwork created by a family for an inclusive art exhibition

✨Utopia – Energetic, futuristic, bold, and richly dynamic.

In-progress collaborative artwork during the Exploring stage, showing layered marks and patterns in aqua, burgundy, yellow, green, and purple

Collaborative family painting in bold colours, early messy stage of Pattern Play Collaborative Art.

✨ Mirage – Bold and expressive feel with striking contrasts.

Myriad In Harmony collaborative artwork with warm colours over blue, created at an art exhibition

✨Galaxy – Dreamy, cosmic, and evocative of infinite mysteries.

Community Mural Projects image showing a close-up of the Find Your Courage mural, created by 20 teenage girls from an Adelaide high school using a limited galaxy-themed colour scheme.

Galaxy-themed mural with finishing details by 20 teenage girls using Pattern Play Collaborative Art.

✨ Vibrant – Bright, cheerful, vivid, and energetic.

“Find Your Confidence” mural showing bold pink, red, orange, and yellow patterns layered over aqua and green backgrounds, created collaboratively by teenagers over five sessions using the Pattern Play Collaborative Art Process.

✨ Lava – Fiery, intense, and bursting with dynamic heat.

Bold A6 panel artworks created by a family group using collaborative art for disability advocacy.

In action photo creating a warm-coloured collaborative painting titled 'Lava Incognito,' created by a family group of all ages and abilities.

7 Group Art Colour Schemes Volume 2: In Development

Volume 2 will feature Niko, Cyberpunk, Nebula, Serenity, Uzumaki, Rainforest, and Bushland.

Each scheme will include:

Example projects showing the palette in use
Unique ways to explore the scheme with Pattern Play
Colour Scheme Cards for easy print and carry
BONUS: A themed Pattern Play Page for each colour scheme

What’s the inspiration behind these schemes?

Bushland: Stark Australian outback tones, using primary colours in a simple, striking way.
Cyberpunk: Neon, high-tech boldness from the anime Cyberpunk Edgerunners — intense, futuristic, and full of energy.
Nebula: Colours of the Heart Nebula — cosmic, ethereal, and perfect for sparking wonder.
Niko: Inspired by the indie game OneShot, a dark and moody adventure capturing the charm of a tiny 2D world.
Rainforest: Rich, vibrant colours of the jungle, alive with birds and plant life.
Serenity: Soft, dreamy pastels designed to create a calm, tranquil feel.
Uzumaki: Spirals and tension inspired by Junji Ito’s haunting manga Uzumaki.

7 Group Art Colour Schemes Volume 3: In Development

Volume 3 will feature Aura, Butterfly, Glacier, Meadow, Midnight, Nexus, Zesty.

Each colour scheme will include:

Example projects showing the palette in use
Suggested ways to explore the scheme with real-life projects
Colour Scheme Cards for easy print and carry
A themed Pattern Play Page for each colour scheme
BONUS: Three creative challenges per colour scheme — different ways to use the colours, plus layout and composition ideas to inspire your collaborative art

Stay tuned — these new palettes are still in development, and I can’t wait to share them with you soon!

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

You’ll get weekly creative tips and group art ideas from me.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a special offer inside.

Your guide arrives instantly after you confirm your email.
Unsubscribe anytime.

How to Create a Pattern Play Collaborative Artwork in 3 Simple Steps

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

Curious about how to do Pattern Play Art? In this post, you’ll discover my simple 3-step Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework that makes group painting easy and fun. I’ve guided over 2,000 participants in more than 60 community and school projects, and I want to help you do the same with my helpful digital resources. You’ll learn how to spark creativity, work together, and create a vibrant shared artwork with confidence.

Want to discover how to do Pattern Play Collaborative Art?

/Bling stage of Pattern Play Art created for the Incognito Art Show 2024 by a family group, with final details painted by a 19-year-old participant.

Peer Support artwork in the Bling stage of How to Do Pattern Play Art, featuring cool colours and finishing touches added by adults living with disability and others.

Pattern Play Group Art – A Quick How-to Guide.

Whether you’re painting with kids, adults, students or friends, this fun and flexible art activity is all about layering marks, patterns, and playful decoration—together. These three simple steps will show you how to get started with Pattern Play Collaborative Art, using just a few brushes, paint colours, and optional pattern prompts. No art skills required—just curiosity and a willingness to play!

Here’s a simple, beginner-friendly way to create a collaborative artwork using the Pattern Play method.

Try these 3 simple steps to create your own Pattern Play Collaborative Artwork:

Stage 1 of Pattern Play Collaborative Art: Messy Playing

Start with a shared canvas. Use big brushes to add circles, spirals, and arches from the edges. Add clusters of marks like dots, dashes and smiles. Overlap your marks to build a playful base layer.
Tip: Big brushes help everyone loosen up and get painting!
👉 Pairs beautifully with the Mark Making and Circle Play from my Pattern Play Pages for a playful, cohesive look.

Three examples of Pattern Play Art: Messy Playing, showing how real and messy it is! Go nuts and cover the surface:

"Growing Together" artwork created with primary school children featuring messy brushwork, sponging, and scraping techniques during the Messy Playing stage.

"Myriad" artwork from an art exhibition showing loose brushstrokes, big brushes, and a playful use of patterns.

Growing Together project showing messy playing through big brushes and loose brushwork.
Myriad project showing vibrant messy playing process through circles, spirals and mark-making.
Lava project starting messy playing stage with dynamic, expressive brushwork.

Stage 2 of Pattern Play Collaborative Art: Exploring

Add a layer of repeating patterns in a few related colours— rainbows, zigzags, leaves, or more circles. Use medium brushes to vary the lines and fill in spaces.
Tip: Medium brushes let you add variety and rhythm. Use one colour family per layer—only warm colours or only cool colours—for clean, vibrant results.
👉 Try using the Pattern Play Cards for simple, beginner-friendly patterns that anyone can follow.

Three examples of Pattern Play Collective Art: Exploring, showing how size and variety make such a rich vision. Add more layers…

We Talk Together artwork in the Exploring stage of Pattern Play, using medium and small brushes to layer collaborative patterns.

Exploring stage of How to Do Pattern Play Art, featuring clustered shapes and detailed pattern layers from the Utopia project.

We Talk Together project in the Exploring stage of collaborative art, focused on layered patterns.
Utopia project artwork during the Exploring stage, where pattern clusters add creative detail.
Growing Together project during the Exploring stage, adding layers of marks with small brushes.

Stage 3 of Pattern Play Collaborative Art: Bling!

Use paint pens to decorate and doodle—outline, highlight, and add fine details. This part is often quiet and focused, bringing the artwork together beautifully. Use the same Pattern Play shapes and patterns from earlier layers to add ornamentation and a sense of cohesion.
Tip: Paint pens create clean lines and are loved by kids and adults alike.

Three examples of Pattern Play Social Art: Bling, showing how detail adds sophistication! Add decoration and sticker gems…

Incognito 2024 – A family of four created 12 joined artworks, with the Bling stage of this piece added by a 19-year-old.
Peer Support project created by 16 adults living with disability and others in a mixed-generation group.
Community project – detail of Bling stage from one of three artworks created by 600 people.

Pattern Play Collaborative Art – Ready to give it a go?

Pattern Play Collaborative Art is simple, joyful, and endlessly adaptable—whether you’re working with children, adults, classrooms, or community groups. These three steps are just the beginning. Once you get started, you’ll discover how each layer can evolve with more colours, patterns, and personal touches.

Happy Painting!

Charndra,

Your Inclusive Social Art Guide

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

You’ll get weekly creative tips and group art ideas from me.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a special offer inside.

Your guide arrives instantly after you confirm your email.
Unsubscribe anytime.

Community Art Made Simple With Pattern Play

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

Community art projects for groups don’t need to be complex—this post shows you how the Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework makes group creativity simple, inclusive, and genuinely fun. Drawing on my experience facilitating over 60 community and school-based collaborative art projects with more than 2,000 participants, you’ll learn practical ways to run relaxed, engaging group art sessions and discover helpful resources that support facilitators and community event organisers.

Companionship community artwork in cool colours including blues, greens, purples, and deep indigo, created by members of the public.

Conversation community artwork in warm peach, yellow, orange, red, coral, and burgundy tones, created by 600 public participants.

Looking for a fun and accessible way to create an art work in your community?

Discover how community art projects for groups can be easy, engaging, and full of creative surprises using the Pattern Play method.

Community art can be powerful – but it doesn’t need to be complicated. Through the Pattern Play Collaborative Art method, I offer a way for people in schools, groups, and neighbourhoods to create something joyful together, no matter their background or skill.

7 Group Art Colour Schemes product cover image

If you want an easy way to guide colour choices in your community art projects for groups, my 7 Group Art Colour Schemes work brilliantly. Each scheme is minimal and efficient, helping you manage time, materials, budget, and clean-up while still achieving colours that look great together.

A relaxed way to bring people together through paint.

All of the examples below come from the Art Story Community Art Project, created with 600 members of the public during my Artist in Residence program at Westfield Marion. Each artwork is 1m x 1m—a size chosen deliberately to invite movement, shared space, and creative play. This scale allows multiple people to paint at once, explore different sections, and experience the joy of creating something together. The impact was powerful: many visitors left inspired to start their own collaborative art projects, and several school and community groups have since created similar artworks after seeing how engaging and visually striking the results can be. These are all simple community art projects for groups that spark connection and creativity.

3 simple stages guide your spontaneous creativity with ease:

The three stages—Messy Playing, Exploring, and Bling—help people connect without pressure. It starts with play, grows through pattern-making, and finishes with sparkle. The final canvas is shared, but the memories and marks belong to each person. Community art is simple and straightforward using the Pattern Play Collaborative Art Process.

Community artwork with layered warm and cool colours, built daily by 600 public participants over two weeks. — Community Art Made Simple With Pattern Play: ‘Community’

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Best Collaborative Art Ideas: Projects, Guides & Resources for All Ages

Printable Pattern Cards for Art Projects – a set of black and white Pattern Play Cards arranged for group painting activities. Great for teachers, facilitators, and parents. Painting Around is Fun with Pattern Play Collaborative Art.

🖼️ Printable Pattern Cards for Art Projects (Perfect for Teachers, Facilitators & Parents!)

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Quick Takeaway

Printable pattern cards for art projects make it easy to guide groups of all ages in creative, collaborative art. I’ve facilitated over 60 community and school-based projects with more than 2,000 participants using my simple Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework, and I want to help you do the same with my helpful digital resources. In this post, you’ll discover how these cards can spark ideas, simplify planning, and make group art projects fun and engaging for everyone.

Looking for a fun and easy way to spark creativity in your next group painting session?

Pattern Play Cards (Volume 1) are the perfect starting point.

These printable pattern cards for art projects are designed for teachers, facilitators, and parents to inspire playful mark-making, layering, and collaboration—no art experience required!

Each set includes a variety of hand-drawn patterns that are:

🎨 Easy to follow
🌟 Flexible for all ages and abilities
🧩 Perfect for group art projects or solo creativity

These are the same pattern prompts I use in my own collaborative art projects—tested with kids, adults, teachers, and complete beginners. You can print them, cut them, shuffle them, reuse them, or even laminate them for regular use in classrooms or workshops.

If you’ve ever said “I want to do something creative, but I don’t know where to start,” this is for you.

What I have for you is Pattern Play Collaborative Art, a simple method for creating beautiful collaborative artworks as a group of excited people painting together.

Printable Pattern Cards for Art Projects: Myriad in Harmony

This artwork was created using this exact set of Pattern Play Cards, which you can download and print to use in your next collaborative art project—or any art project—for a fun, inclusive layer of accessible patterns. 80 visitors to the Myriad Art Exhibition found themselves creating this artwork with me over three sessions. They were people of all ages and all abilities, and we had a great time painting together!

Ready to get started? Read the product description for my two sets of printable Pattern Play Cards. (By the way, the best value is to get Vol 1 in the Pattern Play Starter Set, where you get three products in one helpful pack, for the price of two)

Myriad in Harmony, an art canvas created using my printable pattern cards for art projects – a downloadable set of 48 black and white hand-drawn designs arranged on A4 pages. — Explore printable pattern cards for art projects – part of Pattern Play Collaborative Art.

Create art together 🎨 This artwork was made using the same set of Printable Pattern Cards for Art Projects available in my shop! Perfect for group painting fun.

Happy Painting!
Charndra – Your Inclusive Social Art Guide

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

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Inclusive Art Activities Using the Pattern Play Collaborative Process

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Quick Takeaway

Inclusive Art Activities are a fun way to bring groups together and spark creativity for all ages and abilities. I’ve facilitated over 60 community and school-based collaborative art projects with more than 2,000 participants, using my simple Pattern Play Collaborative Art framework. In this post, you’ll discover practical tips and ideas, and I want to help you do the same with my helpful digital resources.

Detail of Myriad collaborative artwork in warm colours over a blue base, created by a mixed age and ability group of 80 people at an art exhibition.

Sensory Garden Mural with layered colours, created by 100 staff and students at a specialist school.

Inclusive Art Activities Using the Pattern Play Collaborative Process

A simple, joyful way to create art together—no experience needed.

Inclusive art is at the heart of everything I share through Painting Around. My Pattern Play Collaborative Art approach makes it easy for groups of all ages and abilities to paint together—no pressure, no perfection, just connection through creativity.

3 simple stages guide your spontaneous creativity with ease:

The Pattern Play process flows through three flexible stages: Messy Playing, Exploring, and Bling. First, everyone adds big playful marks. Then we slow down to layer shapes and patterns. Finally, we add highlights, shine, and finishing touches. This way of painting keeps things inclusive, intuitive, and fun from start to finish.

All the artworks featured on this page were created through inclusive art activities with mixed-ability groups—children and adults living with intellectual or physical disabilities. These projects show that with the right strategies, techniques, and inclusive approaches, disability is not a barrier to creativity—it’s simply a different way of engaging. Inclusive art activities like these allow people to create together, learning through observation, demonstration, and modelling. This shared process builds confidence, skills, and a genuine sense of belonging.

Enhancing Voices collaborative artwork in warm colours, created by 96 staff and members of Our Voice SA at a state-wide conference. — Inclusive Art Activities: ‘Enhancing Voices’

Want to try it yourself? Download the Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art: The Pattern Play Way or head to the homepage to discover more about this easy, expressive group art style. Download the Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art or visit my About page for more information on the origin of this Pattern Play Collaborative Art Process.

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

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Hello World! Welcome to Painting Around is FUN!

Painting Around is Fun is where I share my collaborative, inclusive social art projects created with groups of people. Anyone, of any age or ability, can join in—like YOU!

Start Here: Free Guide + Mini Course

Here’s how Pattern Play Collaborative Art works:

Messy Playing:

Start with a coloured canvas. Use big brushes to create circles, spirals, and arches along the edges. Add clusters of marks like dots, dashes, and simple swirls.

Exploring:

Use medium, then smaller brushes to layer patterns from my unique ‘Pattern Play’ resources over the artwork. You’ll interact with what other painters are adding, embracing overlapping and building up the piece together.

Bling!:

Add the finishing touches with patterns and decorative elements using paint pens. You can add some sparkle with gems. Glitter works great too. Use gold leaf to finish the artwork with a touch of bling.

Here are several of the many collaborative group artworks I have created since 2017. I did my first collaborative art project, Our Autumn Banner, with a group of twelve primary school kids. I was hooked!

Colourful collaborative art project created by a large group of people

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My Name is Charndra. (Like ‘Sandra’ with a ‘Ch’)

I’m a high school art teacher, and I’m also a therapist for one of my three children, who has special needs. As a parent and carer, I now focus on being an Inclusive Social Artist. I share the fun of making art together in groups. This is done one project at a time. All my experiences have led to developing my own type of collaborative art. I call this style ‘Pattern Play Collaborative Art’ based on the inclusive patterns we layer.

You’ll love my unique way of creating art together!

Painting with a group of friends is so much fun. You can watch the artwork grow as everyone adds their touch. My ‘Pattern Play’ resources make it easy to be creative. Just enjoy the process—no pressure. Don’t worry about comparing your work to others. You’ll be amazed at what a group can achieve together, and the approach I’ve developed always leads to success!

The artworks start out blank, but they will turn out GREAT!

I have an email group called my ‘Inner Circle’ because we always start with circles in our projects. Each week, I share a peek into the 60+ projects I’ve created with over 2,000 people across South Australia.

I invite you to join my Inner Circle today! You’ll get “Beginner’s Guide to Collaborative Art” It’s a free 20+ page step-by-step guide. It makes it easy to create a unique artwork with a group of friends or family, students, team mates or clients. I’m passionate about collaborative, social art and excited to share this experience with you!

Happy Painting,

– Charndra,

Your Inclusive Social Art Guide.

FREE Guide + Mini Course: Learn the Easiest Way to Run a Collaborative Art Project

Sign up to get the Beginner’s Guide and a short email course that shows you how to plan, start, and guide your first Pattern Play project with confidence.

You’ll get weekly creative tips and group art ideas from me.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a special offer inside.

Your guide arrives instantly after you confirm your email.
Unsubscribe anytime. free guide first!