Emily may only be one but she loves to scribble with crayons (and try to eat them) and I think if I were to let her loose with paint she’d have a whale of a time. I haven’t quite been brave enough for that yet but it is on the list of things to do outside this summer – I think it could be lots of fun if we did it with some of her playmates too.
In the meantime we have been playing with water on our concrete patio.
You can paint with a paintbrush. Or make hand prints.
At least 10 mins of fun before the toddler is bored and decides to paint the bushes.
I will keep you all posted on how the “proper” painting goes when we attempt it. Any other simple craft ideas for a one year old?
52 crafts in 52 weeks 
You need aqua draw. Brilliant toy!
I was looking at those today! Tempted to get one :).
Finger paints are great at this age. Or just paint with food – yogurt or pudding – if she’s prone to eating things. Last summer, when my daughter was about a year and a half old, we had a great day playing with colored ice cubes (I used watered-down tempera paint, but you could just color water) and shaving cream in her water table. Not exactly a craft, but great messy fun, and I just hosed her and the patio down when we were done.