Feb 18, 2014

Ideas and Tips for Painting Activities with Young Children



Young children love paint and there are so many different ways they can explore the process of painting. The traditional way, of course, is to use a paintbrush, but it does not have to stop or begin there. Aside from using their own fingers and hands, this article is filled with various other ways for young children to experience painting and provides inexpensive alternatives to finding the material needed.


Painting Preparation


Before the painting begins, an area needs to be chosen where some mess can occur. If an easel is not being used, then a table should be covered with a tablecloth or newspapers. For toddlers, try using a highchair selected for art activities. Washable liquid tempera paint, found in most craft stores or big outlets, such as Staples, works best for painting with young children. Trays for holding the paint should be chosen and a cheap solution for this is to use clean Styrofoam grocery trays.


Prepare more than one piece of paper per child for quick replacing


Prepare more than one piece of paper per child for quick replacing and set up the clean up area before painting occurs. Children can wear smocks or a bigger sized old shirt worn backwards to keep paint off of their clothes. When all the set up is done, then painting catastrophes with the young children involved are less likely to occur.

Painting with Sponge Stamps


Sponges dipped into paint leave a fun bubbly texture on paper. Young children can use sponges in the store bought sizes, usually rectangle, or the sponges can be cut up into other shapes. It is a good idea to demonstrate to preschool and toddler ages how to stamp the paper with the sponge to produce the shape. One idea is to tell the children to kiss the paper or to jump like a frog. Many children will still want to create their own art pieces and experience the painting with their own process, which is just fine. This style of painting does not require a lot of paint in the tray. The sponge will absorb the paint quickly, but can be used many times over producing paint work on the paper.




Stamp Painting



Cookie Cutters, Kitchen Utensils, Wooden Blocks, Spools....


Other suggestions for stamp painting are cookie cutters, old kitchen utensils, such as potato masher or spatula, wooden blocks, and old thread spools. Next time you are walking through a dollar store, look at the items and imagine if it will make a fun shape or design with paint and whether it can be easily gripped by preschool or toddler hands. The key is to think outside the box and try out other items to create a fun process for young children experiencing paint.


Painting with Miniature Rollers


Miniature rollers can be found in paint stores or dollar shops and is a great way for young children to paint. This rolling style works well with stencils taped onto the paper. After the entire page has been covered in paint, and the paper is dry, the stencil can be lifted off to reveal the shape or design. Stencils can be made with thick paper or thin cardboard paper, such as a cereal box. Another suggestion for a stencil is to use a paper doily taped on paper which creates a snowflake style design.


Painting with Marbles


This painting activity requires a large tray that will hold paint while the marble rolls back and forth. The paper is taped to the bottom of the tray and a few tablespoons of paint placed in the middle. Then a large marble or even a golf ball, can be moved around the paper by the young children who are grasping both sides of the tray. Another version of this is to use a shoe box and have the young children shake the box back and forth which is a wonderful activity for outside.



Painting with Cars or Trucks

Boys will love this painting adventure. Find old toy cars and trucks with wheels that have tread marks on them. Place a large piece of paper on a flat surface with some paint deposits. Then the young children can drive their vehicles all throughout the paint leaving tire marks. This painting activity is very suitable for toddlers.

 

Painting with Balloons


Balloons that are not blown all the way have a nice handle on the end, are bright and appealing. Young children find delight in simply being allowed to place balloons in paint. This painting activity works well on a flat surface with the paint sitting in aluminum foil pie tins.


Potato and Apple Paint Art


Potatoes and apples can be used for painting as well. If the apple is cut sideways, it will display a star in the middle. Potatoes cut in half can then have a design carved into it with a paring knife. If choosing food to use for painting, it is important to explain to the young children that it is an exception to the rule that food is for eating.



The Focus Should be on the Fun Process and not the Product



There are so many ways for young children to create art work using paint and this article is a start. Many preschool and craft websites offer ideas. Regardless of what is chosen, the focus should be on the fun process and not the product. With that emphasize, the creativity in children can freely flow.

Feb 9, 2014

Preschool Indoor Beach Party for the Middle of Winter




During the long winter months, try planning an indoor beach day full of fun activities, games, songs, crafts and more all surrounding the beach theme. This beach day would work well within a preschool lesson plan on opposites, an ocean theme, as well as traveling and the world.




Staging an Indoor Beach Day In the Preschool Classroom


It is important for any preschool party to set the stage. For this theme fill the room with beach towels, beach umbrellas, sand buckets and shovels, beach chairs, sunglasses, seashells, pictures of the beach, palm trees painted onto paper, empty suntan lotion bottles, water bottles. Play music in the background that has waves or perhaps a steel band drum. Have bright color balloons and steamers up, such as yellow and orange to bring in the sunshine effect. If possible put the heat up in the preschool classroom to not only help with setting the scene, but to make a more comfortable temperature for beach attire. In a parent's newsletter, inform the parents to dress their children in beach clothes for the day.  



Sensory Table with a Beach Theme


The sensory table is a great place to feature the beach and if possible, have both sand and water sensory activities.



Water: place blue food coloring into the water set up, seashells, plastic fish, glass beads, plastic boats, water wheel, sieves
                                                     

Sand: seashells, buckets, shovels, container with lids, plastic crabs, small rocks, play coins
  

Beach Preschool Crafts


Beach Scene: A beach scene can be created by the preschoolers with broken shells, sand and cut out pictures or store bought foam pieces of such things as the sun, a shovel and bucket, sun umbrella and so on. Make sure to have a tray to catch all the sand that does not attract to the glue.




Sand in a bottle: Provide each child with a small empty bottle and different color sand, which can easily be made with sand and powder paint. Allow the children to make layers of sand inside and perhaps also some small shells to place in between the layers.


Ocean: Any ocean crafts will work well for a indoor beach theme. One suggestion is to create a fish template out of a paper plate, then provide shiny cellophane paper, tissue and/or wrapping paper cut into small pieces for gluing onto the fish to create colorful scales.



                                                            

Preschool Games for a Beach Theme


These games are versions from classic preschool games:



•Lifeguard Where is Your Whistle?: a version of Doggy Doggy Where is Your Bone.
•Beach Sharades: provide children with ocean animals and/or activities that would occur at the beach.
•Bucket, Bucket, Shovel: this is a version of duck, duck, goose
•Whose under the Beach Blanket?
•Find the Seashell: creating a scavenger hunt to find the seashell or seashells.


Preschool Songs and Poem for Indoor Beach Party


To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star



I love the beach, oh yes I do
I love the beach, how about you
Jumping in the water with sand in my toes
Lying on my towel, the sun on my nose
I love the beach, oh yes I do
I love the beach, how about you?

Another song that can be done with actions is to get five children to lie in the middle of the circle on a big beach towel:

Five on the towel, and the little one said,
Roll over, roll over
So they all rolled over, and one fell out...


For a fun ocean poem to tell on the Indoor Beach Party which works well on a felt board and is great for learning math concepts:




Five little sea creatures on the ocean floor.
The lobster walked away, and now there are four.
Four little sea creatures living in the sea.
The octopus crept away and now there are three.
Three little sea creatures wondering what to do.
Good-bye said the starfish and now there are two.
Two little sea creatures not having much fun.
Off swam the seahorse, now there is one.
One little hermit crab, sad and all alone.
Back came the seahorse, back came the starfish,
back came the octopus, back came the lobster.
Then they all went home.


Preschool Snacks 


Some great preschool snack ideas for a beach theme involve thinking about what we would all eat on a hot, sunny day. Some ideas are:


  • fruit popsicles
  • ice cream sandwiches
  • smoothies
  • watermelon
  • ice cream cones with frozen yogurt
  • lemonade
  • popcorn
  • fish crackers

An indoor beach party provides a fun day for preschoolers and will liven and warm up a winter month that depending on the location, can often hold some dreary and cold weather.



Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas