{Playing Through Autumn Day 20} Ziploc Bag Painting

We absolutely ADORE painting activities in our house, and more often than not painting activities turn into sensory activities, with L slathering paint on every available surface of skin she can find. Generally this isn't a problem, but when I'm trying out ideas for my classroom on my beloved tot, I have to be a bit more clever in the mess department. Recently I tried a color mixing/painting activity with my kiddos at school (originally designed for a child with some sensory issues, who loves art but hates to be messy) inside a Ziploc bag. They turned out so great that I decided to give it a try at home with L. I wasn't sure how she'd like this one, sans mess and all, but she really enjoyed the whole process and the paintings turned out really cool.

I slid a piece of paper into a Ziploc bag and squeezed in a bit of red and a bit of yellow. Autumn colors, yes, and also primary colors that ended up mixing to create another lovely autumn hue - orange!

At first, L wasn't really sure what to make of this sandwich bag glob of paint in front of her. Once she touched that amazing squishy texture, however, she was won over in an instant!

She had us laughing so hard, as she kept looking at her hands for the mess! She definitely missed the opportunity to cover her body in paint, but she enjoyed herself all the same.

It was such fun to watch the yellow and red blend together to create orange. The leaves are finally starting to change in our area, so these colors have been a hot topic of conversation for us lately. Once she was finished, I very gently peeled the bag away from the paper and laid it out to dry. As a delightful bonus, the inside of the bag was a lovely work of art in itself, and it will look fantastic hanging in our front room window! Two for the price of one and nothing to clean up besides!

Pom Sorting = A Bevvy of Skills Practice

So, I know that pom pom sorting is nothing new under the sun, but I wanted to give it a shot with L now that she's getting a bit older and becoming aware that objects are different from one another.  I offered up this pom pom sorting activity using a muffin tin and spoons and was quickly surprised (and pleased) at just how many learning areas were addressed in one simple activity.

Fine Motor: L got a kick out of using the spoons to scoop the poms out of the muffin tin into bowls or from one cup to another in the tin. She quickly learned that the bigger the pom, the tougher it was to keep it on the spoon.

Sorting: I chose a variety of poms that were basically one size big and one size small. We had a lively discussion using the words big and small, as well as large and tiny.  Great vocabulary lesson for a gal who loves to chat!

Patterning: While I don't expect L to grasp the concept of patterns at this point, it was still fun to make lines with the poms - big, little, big, little, etc.

Color Recognition: L is really interested in color words of late and has been asking frequently about the colors of things she encounters. This was a fun and organic way to talk about some of the new color words she's working so hard to master.

This activity was so simple and yet had lots to offer (the best kind, in my opinion!). L enjoyed it so much that I just added the muffin tin and poms to her play area for her to explore at her own leisure!



Quick & Easy Color Recognition Cards

L has been very interested in colors of late, and while she's getting the concept of color words, she's not quite there when it comes to matching the word with the actual color.  I had been brainstorming creative ways to help her in her quest for mastering this skill when I came across the paint department at our local hardware store. Gasp! Paint chips! So easy, so many possibilities, and they cost nothing. Score!

I "sampled" many different paint colors, making sure to take two of each color.  I taped each set back-to-back with doubled sided tape, covered the whole thing in contact paper, and bound them together with a ring to form a little book.

The great thing about paint chips is that the color possibilities are nearly endless. You can pick any colors/combinations you'd like and do all sorts of things with them.  I stuck with the six basic colors of the rainbow, figuring we can always move on to more complicated stuff once these are down pat. (And yes, I realize there are technically seven colors in your typical rainbow, but ol' Roy G. Biv is just gonna have to forgive me on this one - all these different shades make my head spin!)

This whole project took me less than 30 minutes to complete and L has had at least that many minutes of learning and entertainment from this handy little teaching tool. Totally worth it in my (color recognition) book!