Less Mess Art
Make early literacy learning into a fun, exciting time with an art activity. How? By finger painting!
Okay, we all know it – finger painting is messy. It’s one of your child’s favorite activities. But, it’s not always practical. Maybe you don’t have an hour to clean everything and everyone up. Maybe you just got all of your carpets cleaned. Or, maybe your kiddo is making art somewhere (like grandma’s house) that can’t get covered in temperas.
This activity takes the mess down a notch. Or, maybe a few. Instead of real finger paints, your child is using modeling clay. It still works those fine motor skills, but it doesn’t require as much prep or clean-up.
Materials Needed:
- modeling clay
- marker
- card stock paper
Learning and Development
What will your child lean and how can she develop throughthis activity?
- Fine motor skills – eye-hand coordination, muscle strength, control
- Science -- seasons and the summer
- Vocabulary – summer words
- Writing letters
- Exploring through the senses – sight and touch
Ask your child to name “summer words.” She’ll need to think about what happens in the summer and what the season means to her. List the words on a piece of paper. Pick one word to use for this activity. You can save the other words and repeat the activity again and again.
Write the word on a piece of card stock paper. If your child can spell and write on her own, she can do this part. If not, you can write the letters for her. Point to each letter and ask her to repeat it. As
she repeats the letters she can trace over them.
Tear the clay apart into dime-sized pieces.
Smooth the clay over the marker lines. Your child will make a finger painting motion. She can use the same color or a few different hues.
Try using the primaries (red, yellow and blue) and mixing them to make new color.
Art Activity Extensions
Your child doesn’t have to stop at one word. She can create an entire summer vocabulary in clay. This can include sentences that she puts together using multiple word art pieces.
Along with the summer art, try this activity in the other seasons. Brainstorm fall, winter and spring words to paint with clay!
Erica Loop is a mom, parenting writer and educator with an MS in child development. When she's not teaching, she's busy writing kids' activities for her blog Mini Monets and Mommies. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram.
