Fingerpainting Fun using Textured Trays

O and E had a great time fingerpainting this weekend using our textured fingerpainting trays. I squirted fingerpaint into the tray, and O squished it and spread it all around.


E was a little hesitant, and when she finally put her hand in the paint, she immediately tasted it. It must not have tasted very good because she only tasted it once. She seemed a little disturbed by having blue hands at first, but she relaxed after a couple of minutes.

After they spread the paint in the tray, we put a piece of white cardstock on the tray and pressed to make a print. This was a messy and fun activity that we'll be doing again soon.


The fingerpainting trays came from the Let's Explore shop (which is no longer open).

Creative Painting

O had a fantastic time painting with dry tempera powder a few weeks ago! I set up this art activity by pouring red, blue, and yellow tempera paint powder into 3 separate lids for her. I gave her several sheets of white cardstock to paint and cotton balls to dip in the paint. She applied the paint powder to the paper with the cotton balls and then painted over the paint powder with a paintbrush she had dipped in water.

Then she said she wanted to experiment...she dipped the cotton balls in water before dipping them into the paint powder, she sprinkled the paint powder across the paper before wetting it, she used q tips to spread the powder around, etc. She did everything she could think of and totally enjoyed herself. I love it when an art activity is so successful!

Wet Chalk Art

Last Wednesday was a rough day for me. I was stressed over my inability to do the things I needed and wanted to do because of my wrapped and splinted hand. I was also feeling very discouraged by how slowly my wound was healing. I needed a quick and easy activity to cheer me up and to entertain O.

Art Jar to the rescue! We dipped chalk in water and drew on one our outdoor chalkboards. O said "I'm making smooth, broad strokes like I do with paint." She paused and then said "I made paint!!! Can you believe I made paint?!!!" She soaked the chalk in the water for a while, and it was even nicer to work with. She then started "painting" with her hands and feet by smearing them in the wet chalk. We had a lot of fun, and we'll definitely do this again soon.

String Art

Our 2nd Art Jar activity was making string art! O was VERY excited when she chose this activity from the jar, but she wasn't very enthusiastic once we got started on it.

To do this activity, you need string (or yarn), paint, and paper. We dipped the yarn into the paint, placed it on a sheet of cardstock, folded the paper over the string, and pulled the string out. Then we "danced" the yarn on the paper which was much more fun and had a cooler effect than pulling the yarn. However, O decided that she liked painting with her fingers best of all!

Sticker Resist Painting

Our 1st Art Jar activity was sticker resist painting. This activity has been on my to do list for a very long time. It was fun, but I was a little disappointed (but not surprised) with the results.

To do this activity, O decorated a piece of white cardstock with stickers. She then painted the cardstock. After the paint was dry, we peeled the stickers off the paper. Unfortunately, the stickers tore the paper, so the effect was not what I had hoped. Luckily, I thought this might happen, and I warned O that her painting might tear. I was so glad that I forewarned her because I'm sure she would have been very upset if I had not. O had a lot of fun painting, and we are looking forward to our next Art Jar activity!

The Art Jar

We've needed something to jumpstart our art activities around here lately, and I decided that an Art Jar would be just the thing to do it! The idea for an Art Jar came to me when I was making my Pregnancy Journal Jar (a year ago!).

To make the Art Jar, I cut strips of card stock and put an idea for a simple art activity (using supplies that I have on hand) on each strip. I'm hoping that we'll do an activity from the Art Jar at least a couple of times a week. The ideas for the activities have come from library books, activities we've done in the past, and eventually I'll go through the starred items in my google reader and add more strips.

O is VERY excited about the Art Jar. We've completed one activity so far, and we are looking forward to our 2nd Art Jar Activity on Friday.

Since several people have asked what's in The Art Jar, I'd thought I'd share a list of a few of the activities. I don't actually have the jar with me now, so these are just from memory...

painting with marbles
painting with feathers
pop paper prints
leaf prints
string painting
make a sculpture with packing peanuts
make a sculpture with straws and tape
contact paper collage
medicine dropper art