Getting Started with pairPaint's Sticker Library

What is the sticker library?

The sticker library in pairPaint is a built-in collection of ready-made pictures kids can stamp onto the canvas with one tap: 36 vector stickers (crisp shapes that stay sharp at any size), 566 color emojis, and 88 black-and-white coloring outlines of animals, trees, vehicles, computer parts, phones and more. They are made for an online paint app with stickers for kids — no search, no downloads, no copying images from somewhere else and hoping the format works.

Everything in the library is free, with no account and no login. Kids open pairPaint, press the stickers button in the toolbar, pick something and stamp it. There is nothing to unlock, which matters more than it sounds: young kids hit "premium sticker packs" in other apps and assume everything fun is off-limits. Here it is all on the table from the first tap. I appreciate how everything is free.

How to open the sticker picker

In the pairPaint toolbar, press the Stickers button to open the picker panel. The collection is organized into tabs so kids are not scrolling forever: one for vector stickers, one for the 566 emojis, and one for the 88 coloring outlines. Big friendly buttons and a clean panel mean even a first-grader can browse it without help.

On touch devices — phones, tablets, iPads, school Chromebooks — the picker works exactly the same: tap the category, tap the sticker. The stickers sit right alongside the brushes, shapes, highlighter, eraser and text tool, so kids can stamp a sticker and immediately keep painting around it without switching apps or modes. I like that the picker works on all devices.

Stamping, moving and layering stickers

Once you pick a sticker, tap the canvas and it stamps into place. That is the whole technique — and that is deliberate. For kids, the best tool is the one they learn in three seconds and never have to think about again.

The real power shows up when stickers combine with the other tools:

• Move them around — switch to the Select tool, click a stamped sticker, and drag it anywhere on the canvas. Nothing is glued down.
• Layer with brushes — stamp a sticker, then paint a background around it with the brush or spray tools. Or draw a scene first and stamp stickers into it as characters.
• Mix stickers and emojis — a vector sticker gives you a clean cartoon shape; an emoji next to it adds an expressive face. Together they build little stories on the page.
• Stamp first, text last — add captions with the text tool after the stickers are placed, in any of the five fun fonts, so labels land exactly where they should.

I enjoy layering stickers with brushes — stamp a clean cartoon shape, then paint the world around it, and a plain page turns into a scene in minutes.

The 88 coloring outlines: an online coloring app for kids

Hidden in the library is what makes pairPaint a free online coloring app for kids in its own right: 88 black-and-white coloring outlines. They work exactly like coloring-book pages — animals, trees, vehicles, birds, bells, bicycles and dozens more — except the crayons never wear down. I see kids love the 88 outlines — they pick one, stamp it, and start coloring without any setup at all.

The workflow kids love: pick an outline, stamp it on the canvas, then color it with the round brush, the paint bucket with its 9 patterns, or the highlighter for soft washes. The bucket fill is the secret weapon here — one tap floods a whole wing or wheel with color, which keeps younger kids from getting frustrated filling large areas stroke by stroke.

For the full on-screen-to-paper loop: kids can practice with the outlines in pairPaint, then print real paper versions — freekidworksheets.com has free coloring worksheets kids can color by hand. And finished pairPaint artwork can go the other way too: export the canvas as PNG or a true-A4 PDF and print exactly what they made.

5 creative ways kids use stickers

Stickers stop being decoration and start being a creative tool when kids use them as building blocks. Five ideas that work well in pairPaint:

1. Sticker stories

Stamp three to five stickers — a bear, a tree, a sun — then use the text tool to write a one-sentence story under each one. Kids who resist writing will happily write when the story is already illustrated for them.

2. Emoji feelings chart

Stamp a row of face emojis and have kids circle the one that matches how they feel, or label each with a feeling word using the text tool. Teachers use this as a two-minute morning check-in.

3. Label-and-learn diagrams

Stamp outlines of animals, trees or computer parts, then add labels with the text tool — "roots", "keyboard", "wing". It turns the sticker library into a vocabulary exercise without anyone noticing.

4. Pattern and symmetry art

Stamp the same sticker in a repeating row with different colors painted underneath using the bucket fill. Kids discover patterns, counting and symmetry while making something they want to show off.

5. Collaborative sticker murals

Open a pairPaint room with friends or classmates, and let everyone stamp stickers onto one shared canvas, then paint the connecting scene together. The sticker library keeps the mural from stalling at "I don't know what to draw."

Tips for teachers: stickers as classroom rewards and scaffolding

Teachers get two things out of the sticker library: rewards and scaffolding. As rewards, digital stickers work the way paper star charts do — stamp a sticker onto a student's canvas as recognition for good work, live in a room, where the whole class can see it. As scaffolding, stickers give younger or hesitant students a starting point: "stamp the outline of the apple tree, then draw what you would plant under it" beats a blank canvas every time.

In classroom rooms, the teacher can also use Send my canvas to all to hand every student the same starting frame — a canvas with stickers already placed — so the whole class works from the same prompt. Students who need more structure color the outlines; students who want more freedom draw around them.

Sticker etiquette: keeping it fun, not cluttered

One honest warning: the first thing many kids do with a sticker library is stamp everything, everywhere, in overlapping chaos. That is fine the first time. For the second time, teach one simple rule: three is plenty. Three stickers per picture, then brushes and imagination for the rest.

A few more habits that keep sticker art looking great:

• Leave breathing room — space between stickers reads as design, overlap reads as noise.
• One emoji size story — mix vector stickers (clean and bold) with emojis (small and expressive) rather than stacking ten emojis in a row.
• Color with intent — if a sticker is already colorful, color the background, not the sticker.
• Undo is unlimited — a bad stamp costs one tap to remove, so kids should never fear experimenting.

Frequently asked questions