Children in New South Wales could be imprisoned for up to six months if they are caught carrying cans of spray paint without a legitimate reason.

The new measures are part of a crackdown on graffiti.

The State Government will make it an offence for juveniles to carry spray paint without an excuse, such as school work or employment.

The act will be punishable by fines of up to $1,100 or six months in jail.

It is the first time the courts will have the power to imprison minors for the act of possessing spray cans alone.

Premier Nathan Rees is also planning to announce an annual graffiti clean-up day, where community members will volunteer their time to help chemically remove paint.

The idea is loosely based on the popular clean-up Australia day.

Graffiti artist James McCallum says the Government is taking an uninformed approach that might have a lot of unintended consequences.

"Especially when you're talking about getting tough on in this case, kids who are disenfranchised, who are actually in doing graffiti, engaging with their community," he said.

"That's kind of the ironic thing as well. The simple response of saying that we'll throw them in prison or charge them $1,100 is not exactly worthy of the State Government."