 |
This activity is a super-simple way to let your child finger paint without dealing with the mess! Take a plastic ziploc bag (freezer works best, since the plastic is stronger), and add paint or a similar colored substance. We have used paint, shampoo, hair gel – you name it, and we have probably tried it. I think hair gel from the dollar store is our favorite texture! You can add food coloring or paint to the non-paint substances. I prefer to use washable paint, since the plastic bag can break, and it’s hard to get food coloring out of clothes – and even off of hands!
I’ve blogged about this activity before (here and here), but this time I made two improvements: I put a sheet of white paper underneath to allow for greater contrast, and I taped the edges down with masking tape. Painter’s tape would work just as well, and you could even use scotch tape, although that might be a bit more challenging to remove from the table.
Having the bag stabilized made it easier to control the paint, so that two children could play together, or one child could explore in greater depth:
We left this out on our little table for several days, and every child who came over (and there were many) was intrigued. Several of the parents were, too!
Lily may have been the most excited of all!
Have you tried this activity? Do you have an art activity you think my kids would enjoy?
|
I NEED to do this activity with the kids – I keep reading about variations of it. I love the idea of taping the bag down, especially for the wee ones.
One blog I read said they put tempera paint inside a pocket of sealed contact paper. !
[Reply]
What a great improvement, and I love that colour of blue!
[Reply]
That looks like such a fun activity! GREAT idea!
[Reply]
So fun!!!!
[Reply]
Sometimes these easy activities are best. We did it, but Anna was already older than Johnny, and she had only a mild interest in it (we did a version with 2 color paints that were gradually blending in the bag). Once they blended, she was done. I was hoping for some writing attempts :)
[Reply]
That is a great improvement. I need to do this at some point.
[Reply]
Awesome! This has been added to my Winter Survival bookmark. :)
[Reply]
I really like how you taped it onto the table. Maybe I’ll see if I can find one of those giant sized ziplocs for this :-)
[Reply]
Wow! This is a great idea! Definitely going to try it with my lil one. Thank you! :)
[Reply]
We’ve never done this but I think I should set it up for New Kid. I still didn’t get my act together for Learning Lab this week! Ah!
[Reply]
This is a great idea. I have never tried this though I have seen it done. I suggested something like this once but was told by Selena, “Finger paints are suppose to be on my hands.” We didn’t push the issue after that. Especially since we worked so hard to get her to understand that it is OK to get our hands dirty.
[Reply]
Great open-ended art fun! I appreciate you posting the improvements, too! I just pinned your post to my Pinterest art board: http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/kids-art-projects/.
[Reply]
maryanne Reply:
September 13th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Thank you for sharing my post! You have so many good ideas on your Pinterest boards!
[Reply]
this is a great activity…thanks!
[Reply]
I’m going to have to get this out again, I think I have a three year old bag of paint in our art drawer! Penelope has been cutting everything right now, so I’m curious to see whether she will manage to put a hole in it… I’ve caught her trying to cut up her sisters stuffed animals, the couch, her hair… There is constant paper snow all over our living room. She is so different than Rebecca was! Oy.
[Reply]
maryanne Reply:
September 14th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
None of my kids have been that scissor happy, luckily! Although Lily cut holes in at least two of Johnny’s shirts, and a pair of shorts before I realized she was that competent with scissors!
[Reply]
Oh, I love this! I’d like to try using this to teach a child to form letters instead of finger paint. Having the white paper under is a great idea. Here’s a post showing how I’ve used finger paint to teach forming letters. http://beginningreadinghelp.blogspot.com/2011/06/handwriting-practice-videos.html
[Reply]
I love this! I want to do crafts with my toddlers but to eliminate the mess too! I am a happy mama.
[Reply]
[...] dab away. Make puffy paint. Make homemade fingerpaint; Soak sponges in paint for easy access. Put paint inside a ziploc bag, tape the sides down onto the table, let kids “finger [...]
Just found this from mama pea pod…brilliant!!! Pinned it too!!
[Reply]
maryanne Reply:
February 18th, 2012 at 10:10 pm
Thank you!!!
[Reply]
[...] Mama Smiles has a great tutorial on how to make a mess free finger painting project! You’ll need: [...]
Came across this on pinterest and had to take a closer look. I’ve seen paint-in-a-bag activities before, but I really love the idea of taping it down and leaving it where the littles can come back to it several times over the course of a few days. Re-pinning, if you don’t mind, and doing this when my little guy wakes up from his nap! :)
[Reply]
maryanne Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 5:59 pm
So glad you liked our adaptation! Thanks for pinning and sharing, too!
[Reply]
[...] Mess-free painting in a bag couldn’t be cleaner, from Mama Smiles. [...]
[...] No Mess Arty Fun [...]
[...] Finger Painting When I saw this idea for mess-free finger painting on Pinterest from Mama Smiles blog, I knew I had to let Owen try it! Owen loves any kind of sensory experience, and if I don’t [...]
[...] mixture was going to last to be used later, so I decided to try something I’d seen on a blog a while ago, instead. It was actually more paint than I needed, so next time, I won’t put so [...]
I think I just had a “momgasm” reading this article. You have quite simply just savedmy sanity! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
[Reply]
maryanne Reply:
August 18th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
So glad you like this idea!!!
[Reply]
[...] seeing this post from Mama Smiles for mess-free art, I just knew I wanted to try it sometime. The other day, as I was cleaning up the [...]
Excellent! Mess free, it’s a brilliant concept!
Visit Princesse Ecossaise … What’s He Wearing Today?
[Reply]
[...] Ahhh, the mess free finger painting – score! By the Hippie Housewife and Mama smiles [...]
[...] and gobs of hair gel is another sensory delight! Mama Smiles makes it a no mess finger painting activity! [The 80's are [...]