Mess Free Finger Painting
I love messes! I think they help children learn and there is something fun about letting go and getting your fingers dirty. However, there is a time and place for messes. One place you do not want to make a big mess is the frozen yogurt bar you've rented for your sons birthday! So what better way to have an art activity than mess free finger painting.
MATERIALS:
canvas or paper
child safe craft paint
ziplock bag
tape (optional but helpful)
The set up is easy. Just slip the canvas into the ziplock bag. Add a few globs of craft paint and seal the bag. You can tape the top of the bag to the table to prevent the child from opening it and help keep it in place. For my sons birthday activity I painted ice cream cones onto the canvas beforehand so the children's finger painting would look like the ice cream.
Finn and I did a trial run at home, something I'm glad I did because the ziplock bags I'd bought weren't big enough and I confirmed using cling wrap is a lot harder than using a bag! You can see Finn using his fingers to move the paint around.
With some squishing and pushing the paint is easy to move around the bag. Finn is more delicate with his movements and prefers to just use his fingertips. Some children use their whole hands and can cover most of the canvas, like Finns friend below!
You can also see in the above picture this activity is fun for a broad range of ages. The girl on the left is 5 and the girl on the right is almost 1. Both had fun, worked on fine motor skills, and came away with an adorable painting. Here is Finns finished trial painting.
