I am always looking for a variety of ways to engage my children. We enjoy doing lots of messy arts and crafts but sometimes you just want a nice and easy activity that isn't too messy but is still fun. With Halloween just around the corner I want to share with you a lovely activity I did with the boys today - Mess Free Painted Pumpkins.
This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use the links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our work.
You will need:
Large Sandwich Bags
Black Card
White Card
Red and Yellow Paint
Laminating Pouches
Laminator
You may have seen the Paint Stick Pumpkin Sun Catchers we shared recently. I used the same template for this activity.
I inserted a sheet of A4 Paper into a bag and added some yellow and red paint so we could explore the colours blending together to make orange.
I sealed the bag up using sellotape, placed the laminated template on top of the bag and sellotaped it down onto the tray.
Sometimes when you set up Mess Free Painting activities like this children will pierce the bag with their hands/nails and the paint ends up seeping out of the bag, creating a messy activity - something you may have been trying to avoid for one reason or another.
Pacing a laminated template onto of the bag gives the children a perfect window to the craft below. You can still feel the paint oozing underneath
Initially they enjoyed seeing the paint ooze and spread underneath their fingers. I didn't show them what to do with the cars as I wanted to see if they would look at using them to mark make independently.
Sometimes we can be quick to show children how to do something. It can take the enjoyment away for a child who is more than capable of working things out all by themselves.
And that is exactly what they did. Zooming the cars and trucks over the paint left squiggly trails in the paint. They seemed intrigued by this and repeated the process over and over. I left the trays down for some time as they enjoyed returning back again and again.
I waited until their nap time to remove the carefully from the bags and place them out to dry. Once they were almost dry, I stuck them up on the window which highlighted the marks even more as the light hit the card from behind.
Once fully dry, I used the template I made to cut out a pumpkin shape. I had eyes and mouths cut out already. The following day the boys added the features to their pumpkins, along with a stork on the top. I must say what an absolutely enjoyable activity this has been.
Mess Free Pumpkin Painting in Action:
They have loved this technique and I plan to offer similar activities for the upcoming festivities.
Be sure not to miss anything from us by:
I always share things there first, and quite often some ideas don't always make the blog. So come and follow us.
We quite possibly have the best community group on Facebook. Looking for inspiration, advice? Want a place to share your ideas and activity set ups with like minded people?
See all our activities in action via our channel. We throw in a little family life too so you may just find out a little more about the family behind Learning an Exploring Through Play.
Do you live in the UK? Are you always on the look out for new, fun places to visit? We would love you to be apart of our outdoor exploring group. Come and share your own ideas or be inspired to get outdoors by others.
Other posts to check out on Learning and Exploring Through Play:
No comments:
Post a Comment