How To Host An Epic Paint Fight
I have wanted to have a paint fight for the longest time, and a few years ago I finally made it happen! It was as amazing as I had hoped it would be. Everyone had so much fun that it's become an annual family event.
I've planned this three times now and, after some trial and error, I think I've figured about the best proportions for a perfect paint war.
Below is my recipe for a paint fight mixture. I'll get into the details later but for now, here's the basic idea:
• 1/2 gallon tempera paint
• 1 gallon water
• Dish soap: count for two seconds while pouring it or measure about 1 tbsp
• Six colors thoroughly mixed into five gallon buckets with lids
• This is ideal for 15-20 people or 25 max
Estimated Cost:
• $20 for 20 water guns
• $45 for 3 gallons of paint
• $30 for 6 large buckets with lids
Total: $95 (before taxes)
You might consider asking participants to contribute to the cost. I've paid for it all myself but I'll be more likely to continue hosting this event if I ask friends and family to help out in the future.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links at no extra cost to you. All opinions expressed in this article are my own.
FIRST, THE PAINT
But in the future, I'll buy a gallon of each primary color. When mixed, we will still get all the colors of the rainbow without having any leftover.
This is the perfect plan if you want your paint fight to be a one time thing.
2. Mix water and a little soap into your paint
My ideal ratio of paint to water is simply 1:2.
Here's the breakdown:
• 1 gallon of paint in each color: red, blue and yellow
• Or make it fun and try: magenta, turquoise, and yellow
• Mix 1/4 gallon each red and blue for purple. Then do 1/4 red and yellow for orange, and so on.
• We'll have 1/2 gallon of six colors then add 1 gallon of water to each and a quick squirt of dish soap.
I simply count for two full seconds while squirting soap into the mixture.
If you add too much soap and/or water, the colors will blend together on people's clothes and skin.
You might be able to stretch your paint for a larger group, say 30-50 people, but definitely don't mix in more than 1.5 gallons of water per color. (1:3 paint to water)
For me the fun is both in getting messy and seeing the bright explosions of color on everyone.
The first time we did this, we mixed 1:1 of paint and water into our buckets. This made it possible to use the water pump guns for the fight, but the paint was very difficult to wash off.
The third fight was extremely easy clean up with a 1:3 ratio and some dish soap, but the colors didn't look so pretty. It almost felt like I'd paid money for messy water fight.
I'd say our second attempt was ideal. The 1:2 ratio of paint to water plus about 1 tbsp of dish soap was the perfect balance. There was plenty of pigment without being an immense pain to wash off.
So, the amount of paint and water you use is up to you.
If you want a long fight you will have to add more water and you lose the distinct colors.
On the other hand, having pretty pictures means the fight itself will be over quickly.
3. Take a different approach with young kids
If you want something more like a color powder fight or photo op, rather than a wild colored water fight, try this:
Get this small set with 8 oz bottles of paint. Mix each with 16 oz of water in small buckets and simply fling the colors onto each other's clothes, smear it on faces, and make hand prints on each other.
This approach is more suited to little kids. It won't be epic, but it will look great for cute photos.
Here's a tip: Try mixing a little white paint into each bucket for pastel colors. Black mixed in will give you deeper colors.
Related Post:
How To Take Your Little Kids To The Utah Color Festival
You only really need 2 things for an amazing paint war:
1. Buckets with lids for mixing and transporting paint and water.
2. Plastic pump water guns: I bought 20 of these for $1 each at Walmart. And we reuse them because the watered down paint doesn't ruin them.
Bonus Idea 1:
Try these water fight sponges instead of balloons. We used big car wash sponges the first time which added some variety to the fun. Plus they are reusable unlike waterballoons and quicker to use than refillable balloons.
Bonus Idea 2:
Get some reusable water balloons if you want. These are easy to refill quickly, though I've never done it with paint.
We haven't used traditional water balloons because:
A. Filling balloons with paint sounds like too much messy work.
B. Water balloons often just bounce off people and explode on the ground anyway.
C. We would have to pick up the balloon pieces afterwards.
If you do try the reusable ones, let us know how you liked it in the comments. I'm considering trying them out to switch things up.
Bonus Idea 3:
You can try paint Twister. Be sure to pour your paint straight from the bottle onto the mat without adding water so it doesn't run everywhere. And keep in mind that a little will go a long way.
We tried it out the first year and it was fun, but we prefer dousing each other with water gun rainbows.
The worst part of paint Twister was cleaning the mat afterwards, so keep that in mind.
You might consider a paint slip'n'slide, but I discovered all the pigments are prone to blend into brown when we have tried it. And again, cleaning a paint coated mat or tarp is a pain.
1. As much white as possible. But I'll bet you already knew that.
A paint fight requires a lot of clean up but not much preparation.
In the past, we've mixed the paint and water at the park.
This last time though, it was a little stressful with impatient kids crowding the buckets and multiple people throwing out opinions on how much water to mix in.
I recommend you prep everything at home. You will be able to get the ratios how you want them and it doesn't take very long.
Use a whisk or close the lid and shake the bucket to get it all mixed. We've discovered a layer of thick paint on the bottom of the buckets after the fight, so be very thorough in mixing.
Replace the lids and load everything into your car, so you can start the fun as soon as you get to the park.
And you might want to shake the buckets again just before the actual paint fight.
We placed the buckets in a large circle and gave everyone their own pump gun.
We simply counted down from three and then went crazy. A couple people said it was over too soon. But, man, was it wild!
The pump guns made it go by really fast. You could do without, or maybe just ask people to fill them a little at a time.
We didn't have any rules or a winner; we just went crazy.
But you could assign a color to each person and whichever color you see on other people the most in a certain amount time, say five minutes, would be the winner.
You could have a lot of fun blending colors to get a unique shade for each person.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough buckets to play with this idea, but maybe next time.
Plan your paint war on a hot summer's day especially if little kids will be playing. We've had toddlers complain about feeling cold.
Make a rule to not spray in the face. It will happen anyway but with everyone being mindful of this rule, it will happen less and your goggles, hopefully, won't be coated in paint to the point that you can't see.
Keep in mind that people will likely get the paint mixture in their mouths if they are going crazy and yelling. Tempera paint is not toxic so it's nothing to worry about, but you might suggest that participants close their mouths during the fight if they want.
Last, but not least, be sure to take a before and after picture for the memories!
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions!
And if you do host your own paint fight, come back let us know how it goes!
FIRST, THE PAINT 
1. Use washable tempera paint
I've been buying a set of paints because I assumed it would be cheaper to buy in bulk. But the price has gone up $40 dollars in the last 4 years! AND I have been left with colors I don't want to use.
Even if I add a little white or black paint to each color to lighten or darken each pigment, I'm not going to use the full gallon of these before I go through all the colors. Plus, I'm still left with a full gallon of brown.
So, I've found it's actually cheaper to buy a different brand and choose which colors I want.
The set I've used has six colors and we've used half a gallon each time. I can't believe it took me so long to realize this could be done for almost half the cost and the same amount of paint.
I use this small Colorations tempera set for crafts with my kids. And since they also come in gallon sizes for $15 each, I will get these next time. There's more variety of colors than the previous brand I've used like turquoise and magenta.
I've been buying a set of paints because I assumed it would be cheaper to buy in bulk. But the price has gone up $40 dollars in the last 4 years! AND I have been left with colors I don't want to use.
Even if I add a little white or black paint to each color to lighten or darken each pigment, I'm not going to use the full gallon of these before I go through all the colors. Plus, I'm still left with a full gallon of brown.
So, I've found it's actually cheaper to buy a different brand and choose which colors I want.
The set I've used has six colors and we've used half a gallon each time. I can't believe it took me so long to realize this could be done for almost half the cost and the same amount of paint.
I use this small Colorations tempera set for crafts with my kids. And since they also come in gallon sizes for $15 each, I will get these next time. There's more variety of colors than the previous brand I've used like turquoise and magenta.
But in the future, I'll buy a gallon of each primary color. When mixed, we will still get all the colors of the rainbow without having any leftover.
This is the perfect plan if you want your paint fight to be a one time thing.
2. Mix water and a little soap into your paint
My ideal ratio of paint to water is simply 1:2.
Here's the breakdown:
• 1 gallon of paint in each color: red, blue and yellow
• Or make it fun and try: magenta, turquoise, and yellow
• Mix 1/4 gallon each red and blue for purple. Then do 1/4 red and yellow for orange, and so on.
• We'll have 1/2 gallon of six colors then add 1 gallon of water to each and a quick squirt of dish soap.
I simply count for two full seconds while squirting soap into the mixture.
If you add too much soap and/or water, the colors will blend together on people's clothes and skin.
You might be able to stretch your paint for a larger group, say 30-50 people, but definitely don't mix in more than 1.5 gallons of water per color. (1:3 paint to water)
For me the fun is both in getting messy and seeing the bright explosions of color on everyone.
The first time we did this, we mixed 1:1 of paint and water into our buckets. This made it possible to use the water pump guns for the fight, but the paint was very difficult to wash off.
The third fight was extremely easy clean up with a 1:3 ratio and some dish soap, but the colors didn't look so pretty. It almost felt like I'd paid money for messy water fight.
I'd say our second attempt was ideal. The 1:2 ratio of paint to water plus about 1 tbsp of dish soap was the perfect balance. There was plenty of pigment without being an immense pain to wash off.
So, the amount of paint and water you use is up to you.
If you want a long fight you will have to add more water and you lose the distinct colors.
On the other hand, having pretty pictures means the fight itself will be over quickly.
3. Take a different approach with young kids
If you want something more like a color powder fight or photo op, rather than a wild colored water fight, try this:
Get this small set with 8 oz bottles of paint. Mix each with 16 oz of water in small buckets and simply fling the colors onto each other's clothes, smear it on faces, and make hand prints on each other.
This approach is more suited to little kids. It won't be epic, but it will look great for cute photos.
Here's a tip: Try mixing a little white paint into each bucket for pastel colors. Black mixed in will give you deeper colors.
Related Post:
How To Take Your Little Kids To The Utah Color Festival
SUPPLIES
You only really need 2 things for an amazing paint war:
1. Buckets with lids for mixing and transporting paint and water.
2. Plastic pump water guns: I bought 20 of these for $1 each at Walmart. And we reuse them because the watered down paint doesn't ruin them.
Bonus Idea 1:
Try these water fight sponges instead of balloons. We used big car wash sponges the first time which added some variety to the fun. Plus they are reusable unlike waterballoons and quicker to use than refillable balloons.
Bonus Idea 2:
Get some reusable water balloons if you want. These are easy to refill quickly, though I've never done it with paint.
We haven't used traditional water balloons because:
A. Filling balloons with paint sounds like too much messy work.
B. Water balloons often just bounce off people and explode on the ground anyway.
C. We would have to pick up the balloon pieces afterwards.
If you do try the reusable ones, let us know how you liked it in the comments. I'm considering trying them out to switch things up.
Bonus Idea 3:
You can try paint Twister. Be sure to pour your paint straight from the bottle onto the mat without adding water so it doesn't run everywhere. And keep in mind that a little will go a long way.
We tried it out the first year and it was fun, but we prefer dousing each other with water gun rainbows.
The worst part of paint Twister was cleaning the mat afterwards, so keep that in mind.
You might consider a paint slip'n'slide, but I discovered all the pigments are prone to blend into brown when we have tried it. And again, cleaning a paint coated mat or tarp is a pain.
HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN PLAY? HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?
 |
| From our third paint fight. 1:3 paint to water. |
I've gotten a lot of questions about the number of people you can invite and how long the fight it lasts.
I wish I had the perfect formula to calculate how much paint you need for each person. The best I can do is give you approximate numbers.
Of course you can have any number of people play, but timing depends on what type of fight you want.
You won't need as much paint if your intention is to get some nice photos. And you will need a lot for a long lasting fight.
For reference, our most recent fight was comprised of 15 people with 3 gallons of paint, a 1:3 ratio of paint to water, and it lasted about 12 minutes.
Again, it was too much water for me because I like the distinct colors.
My personal ideal would be 15-20 people with a 1:2 paint to water and 3 gallons of paint. Expect this type of fight to last between 5 and 10 minutes.
Simply double your color mixture if you want a long, crazy fight or if you want to invite 30-50 people.
A low key, decorate each other type fight, will only require this small set of paints, and 1:2 ratio for 5-12 people or 15 if you want to stretch it. This will make the fun last longer than a wild free for all.
WHAT TO WEAR
1. As much white as possible. But I'll bet you already knew that.
Don't expect the colors to come out. The paint is washable but we found it definitely does not wash out of white clothes.
We wore white T-shirts like these ones and kept our paint-stained shirts after to use for future paint fights and the Holi Festival.
My husband even wore white shorts and long white socks to make the colors show brightly.
And next time we host a paint fight, I will get myself these inexpensive white shorts or these white pants.
All our white clothes were dyed in a lovely mess of pastel colors after we washed them.
Colorfully stained white T-shirts make an especially fun keepsake for kids. And these white shorts are perfect for little kids to wear in a summer paint fight.
2. An old swimsuit or tank top to wear underneath so you can just remove your messy clothes when it's time to clean up.
3. Something to cover your hair such as a white bandana, a white hat, or a shower cap. The paint does wash out but it can stain your hair temporarily. Of course, you can use any old hat, but it's more fun to wear white so the colors stand out.
4. Eye protection: You will 100% want goggles. Sunglasses or safety glasses help but paint can still get under them, even more so if you use a lot of water. I also recommend swim goggles especially if you already own some.
Try this:
If you want a keepsake from your paint fight, get yourself a nice white shirt and wash it after. The colors will be pastel and it looks pretty cool. We wear the same white shirts for every paint fight to see how it gets more colorful over time.
OR wear a white dress like this one or this one and spin while people spray you briefly with all the colors. I wear my color-stained dress as a swim cover up.
We wore white T-shirts like these ones and kept our paint-stained shirts after to use for future paint fights and the Holi Festival.
My husband even wore white shorts and long white socks to make the colors show brightly.
And next time we host a paint fight, I will get myself these inexpensive white shorts or these white pants.
All our white clothes were dyed in a lovely mess of pastel colors after we washed them.
Colorfully stained white T-shirts make an especially fun keepsake for kids. And these white shorts are perfect for little kids to wear in a summer paint fight.
2. An old swimsuit or tank top to wear underneath so you can just remove your messy clothes when it's time to clean up.
3. Something to cover your hair such as a white bandana, a white hat, or a shower cap. The paint does wash out but it can stain your hair temporarily. Of course, you can use any old hat, but it's more fun to wear white so the colors stand out.
4. Eye protection: You will 100% want goggles. Sunglasses or safety glasses help but paint can still get under them, even more so if you use a lot of water. I also recommend swim goggles especially if you already own some.
Try this:
If you want a keepsake from your paint fight, get yourself a nice white shirt and wash it after. The colors will be pastel and it looks pretty cool. We wear the same white shirts for every paint fight to see how it gets more colorful over time.
OR wear a white dress like this one or this one and spin while people spray you briefly with all the colors. I wear my color-stained dress as a swim cover up.
I also think it might be fun to use a white loungewear set in our annual paint fight to color and keep.
For a brighter pigment, lay your shirt or dress out in the sun for a couple days, turning it over occasionally. This will bake the colors into the clothes making them more vivid after you wash.
If you want to go all out, trash your wedding dress in a big paint fight!
For a brighter pigment, lay your shirt or dress out in the sun for a couple days, turning it over occasionally. This will bake the colors into the clothes making them more vivid after you wash.
If you want to go all out, trash your wedding dress in a big paint fight!
Related Post:
You'll need:
• Trash bags for paint clothes
• Old towels
• Shampoo
• Dish soap
• Old washcloths
• And lots of moisturizer.
After the fight, everyone walked back to my house from the park and washed off with the hose.
If you have to drive to and from your paint fight location, line your carseats with old towels or trash bags. Be sure to do this BEFORE the paint fight.
Wearing a swimsuit under your clothes is especially important as it will allow you to remove your messy clothes and avoid getting excessive paint all over your car.
Store your paint clothes in a trash bag until you get home to wash them.
Let the paint dry as much as possible before driving home.
OR you could also bring an extra 5 gallon bucket of water to get the worst of the paint off your skin with dish soap before getting into the car.
I'd still recommend you let yourself air dry or bring an old towel, because you will still be dripping with paint and water.
Dish soap works best for getting the paint off your skin. Some kitchen sponges or old wash cloths help a lot too.
If the paint doesn't dry out your skin, the dish soap will, so be sure to have some lotion on hand.
It took me about 30 minutes in the shower to get completely clean. And that was after getting some of it off with the hose.
If you wear a shower cap, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt clean up won't take so long.
You may want to keep your clothes to resuse for another paint fight, a color powder war, or for yardwork.
So, if you want to keep your paint clothes and get as much color out as possible try this:
First, spray off as much paint as you can with a hose. Then soak them in a bucket, with detergent if you like. Rinse and repeat until most of the paint is removed before putting your clothes in your washing machine.
It's unlikely that all the colors will wash out, but most of it will if you are diligent.
Washing the buckets for reuse was one of my least favorite parts of clean up. It doesn't take much scrubbing if you use a decent amount of dishsoap with a high pressure hose.
• Trash bags for paint clothes
• Old towels
• Shampoo
• Dish soap
• Old washcloths
• And lots of moisturizer.
After the fight, everyone walked back to my house from the park and washed off with the hose.
If you have to drive to and from your paint fight location, line your carseats with old towels or trash bags. Be sure to do this BEFORE the paint fight.
Wearing a swimsuit under your clothes is especially important as it will allow you to remove your messy clothes and avoid getting excessive paint all over your car.
Store your paint clothes in a trash bag until you get home to wash them.
Let the paint dry as much as possible before driving home.
OR you could also bring an extra 5 gallon bucket of water to get the worst of the paint off your skin with dish soap before getting into the car.
I'd still recommend you let yourself air dry or bring an old towel, because you will still be dripping with paint and water.
Dish soap works best for getting the paint off your skin. Some kitchen sponges or old wash cloths help a lot too.
If the paint doesn't dry out your skin, the dish soap will, so be sure to have some lotion on hand.
It took me about 30 minutes in the shower to get completely clean. And that was after getting some of it off with the hose.
If you wear a shower cap, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt clean up won't take so long.
You may want to keep your clothes to resuse for another paint fight, a color powder war, or for yardwork.
So, if you want to keep your paint clothes and get as much color out as possible try this:
First, spray off as much paint as you can with a hose. Then soak them in a bucket, with detergent if you like. Rinse and repeat until most of the paint is removed before putting your clothes in your washing machine.
It's unlikely that all the colors will wash out, but most of it will if you are diligent.
Washing the buckets for reuse was one of my least favorite parts of clean up. It doesn't take much scrubbing if you use a decent amount of dishsoap with a high pressure hose.
It's just inconvenient, so I asked my fellow paint fighters to help clean buckets in my front yard before they went home.
LOCATION AND PREP
In the past, we've mixed the paint and water at the park.
This last time though, it was a little stressful with impatient kids crowding the buckets and multiple people throwing out opinions on how much water to mix in.
I recommend you prep everything at home. You will be able to get the ratios how you want them and it doesn't take very long.
Use a whisk or close the lid and shake the bucket to get it all mixed. We've discovered a layer of thick paint on the bottom of the buckets after the fight, so be very thorough in mixing.
Replace the lids and load everything into your car, so you can start the fun as soon as you get to the park.
And you might want to shake the buckets again just before the actual paint fight.
We placed the buckets in a large circle and gave everyone their own pump gun.
PAINT FIGHT!
The pump guns made it go by really fast. You could do without, or maybe just ask people to fill them a little at a time.
We didn't have any rules or a winner; we just went crazy.
But you could assign a color to each person and whichever color you see on other people the most in a certain amount time, say five minutes, would be the winner.
You could have a lot of fun blending colors to get a unique shade for each person.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough buckets to play with this idea, but maybe next time.
Plan your paint war on a hot summer's day especially if little kids will be playing. We've had toddlers complain about feeling cold.
Make a rule to not spray in the face. It will happen anyway but with everyone being mindful of this rule, it will happen less and your goggles, hopefully, won't be coated in paint to the point that you can't see.
Keep in mind that people will likely get the paint mixture in their mouths if they are going crazy and yelling. Tempera paint is not toxic so it's nothing to worry about, but you might suggest that participants close their mouths during the fight if they want.
Last, but not least, be sure to take a before and after picture for the memories!
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions!
And if you do host your own paint fight, come back let us know how it goes!
This was so awesome!
ReplyDeleteWe live in a very warm climate, what do you think if I start to mix and set buckets out a half hour before we start will paint dry out ???
ReplyDeleteThe paint should be fine after 30 minutes, especially if you mix it with water. You can stir in a lot and still have bright colors. Have fun!
DeleteHow much dawn soap did you use to the bucket?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't measure, but it doesn't take much. We filled 5 gallon buckets about halfway with 1 part paint and between 3 and 4 parts water, then squeezed a bottle of dish soap into it for about three quick seconds and then stirred. Let me know what you do and how it works out!
DeleteIf I were to use a some canvas’s as blockers do you think the paint would stay on them to where that could be hung in the house later as keepsake/ decor?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea! And that could work depending on how much water you use in the paint, if any. The more water mixed in, the more the paint will run down the canvas. I would suggest leaving out dishsoap as well, if you want a keepsake painting.
DeleteAnd you might consider using only a few colors since a whole rainbow of paints runs the risk of mixing into browns on the canvas. For example, you could use greens, blues, and purples for the paint fight. Or reds, oranges, and yellows so the colors can mix in a pretty way.
Comment again if you try this and let us all know how it goes!
If I were to do this at a park, how would you clean up the paint? Also is it ok to have a paint fight at a park, far out in the field?
ReplyDeleteThose are great questions. Thanks for asking.
DeleteWe didn't get much paint on the grass so we didn't clean it up, and we didn't have any way of doing so.
While tempera paint will stain clothes it is water-based should be safe for grass.
A larger area for the fight will mean less concentration of paint on the grass as well. And adding a lot of water to the paint before the fight will help with this.
We mainly used pump guns which meant the majority of the paint got on our clothes and not the lawn.
If you're concerned, I recommened you ask the parks department in your town/city if it is okay to have a paint fight at a park.
We didn't do so, but we also didn't kill any grass or throw paint near any other patrons.
I hope this sufficiently answers your questions. I hope it works out and have fun!
Do you think this would be a great idea for the park with no water, invite the community 🧐 how long did the paint fight last?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have access to water at the park where we went, , but I recommend you carry water to the park to mix into the paint. This will make it go farther and make it easier for people to wash off.
DeleteSince we had no water pumps at our park, we had to walk back to my house, strip down to our swimsuits, and wash off with the hose.
Some people just laid old towels on the seats in their cars and drove home before cleaning up.
As far as length of time goes, that depends on how much paint and how many people you will have.
We had a group of 15 people, 7 five gallon buckets filled to about halfway, and the fight lasted about 15 minutes.
I hope this helps!