What happens when you take a selection of paints, a roll of paper, add a sprinkling of sunshine, & a few patio toys?
Wel, it goes a little something like this...
Minnie loved exploring the sensory properties of the paint & created some neat handprints in the process too! (We used economy lining paper from homebase at £2:50 a roll. It's such a bargain & great for other crafts too.)
Then she moved the paintbrushes towards the space hopper! A little part of me was thinking about the possible mess, but I went with Minnie's discovery & I'm so glad I did. It was nothing that couldn't be sorted later with a little soap & water!;-)
Minnie painted the bottom part of the space hopper, carried it over to the paper
& hopped on.
As the space hopper bounced along it made large circular patterns. Do you think they look like target prints?
She was obviously having great fun, & repeated the process again & again.
This physical outdoor activity was not only developing Minnie's gross motor skills, but creating some vibrant artwork too.
Then Minnie spotted her trike! She independently collected it, turned it upside down & started to paint all three wheels.
When she was happy with the amount of paint, she carried the trike over to the paper, set it the right way up & maneuvered it over the paper. She took such care to keep all the wheels on the paper (using some skillful hand-eye co-ordination) & squealed with delight as she glimpsed the colourful tracks she was creating.
As she pushed her trike along the blue paint on the wheels mixed with some of the yellow she'd used previously & produced a bright green. What a fun way to experiment with colour mixing!
Her next painting discovery was her bouncy ball. It was wonderful to see her predicting & then discovering the different movements each of these objects produced as they bounced/rolled along the paper, & great to see these movements recorded in the paint.
She then painted a rock from her garden & rolled it along the paper, commenting; 'it's not so fast' as it bounced a couple of times along the paper.
Then finally Minnie painted her trike green! When she was done we headed straight for a bath & the colour discovery continued as Minnie's bath water changed from clear to green when she got in!! The trike, ball & space hopper have all since been hosed down by Minnie & all paint removed. I think she loved cleaning the equipment almost as much as painting with it!
It was great to observe Minnie experimenting & painting with these large objects & watching her manipulate them independently. So often we use small items to paint with & miss out on these creative possibilities. I think my little girl will be experimenting with paint & garden toys again very soon!