Painting in Zip lock bags

Paint Bag Writing

by AMY on OCTOBER 6, 2009

Learning to write letters and numbers can be frustrating for little hands!  I like to offer lots of play activities that help build those fine motor skills in a relaxed, fun way. Toddlers and up will enjoy making shapes, swirls, and even letters on a plastic bag filled with paint.

To make your own paint bag writing tablet, put some finger paint or tempera paint into a sturdy freezer zip-top plastic bag.  Seal it well and smoosh the paint around the entire bag.  (You could even add a strip of packing tape across the top if you are worried about your child opening the bag.)  That’s it!

We like to tape ours down to the table so it doesn’t wiggle around too much.  Try doodling and writing with your finger first.  Your child may also enjoy using a cotton swab to write with.  When your tablet is full of scribbles (or sight words for older kids), smoosh and smear the paint around and start over.  No mess, just fun!

Happy playing!

http://lets-explore.net/blog/2009/10/paint-bag-writing/

Flower activities

Flower Sponge Printing and pre-writing the stem and leaves -

This activity helped the children reinforce their paintbrush handling and making a horizontal line. Some children realised that the stem was like the number 1 and that painting the leaves made it look like a cross. 

Colouring a sunflower and making a collage -

This activity helped the children reinforce their tripod grasp while colouring the flower and then they started exploring the different lentils texture.  This activity was a continuation of yesterday's story "The small small seed" and a good opportunity to repeat the parts of a flower in Maltese - fjura, petali, weraq, xitla.