While traditional art projects will always be a fantastic way to work on fine-motor skills, sometimes little bodies just have too much energy and too much to do to sit still, or maybe your whimsical and creative child needs a push to do something active.
We’ve collected several ideas for how to burn energy while making art.
Popping bubble wrap covered in paint – take bubble wrap into the backyard and squirt some washable paint onto it. Let your child stomp to pop the bubbles and spread the paint around. It’s gross-motor, it’s sensory, it’s art, and it should be a tone of fun!
Use your feet– Similarly, you could lay out craft paper or wrapping paper. Small children will enjoy stomping around and leaving adorable footprints, while bigger kids can practice balancing while they try to draw pictures with their feet.
Paint with water shooters– Dilute washable paint and load the tanks. You could hang an old bed sheet up for something to aim at.
Bubble art– add a few drops of food coloring to your bubble mix and let the children blow bubbles for some added interest during bubble time. Bonus points if you lay out some paper to collect the colors as the bubbles pop.
Paint with car tire tracks– Your child probably has more than a dozen trucks lying around the house, and those wheels probably have some interesting textures. Lay out some wrapping paper, give them a little paint, and let them push the trucks around to leave textured tracks.
Here are a few more ideas from the web—
Get creative and let them make a mess (they’ll probably be happy to help you clean it up as an extra activity). Let them let their inner Jackson Pollock out.
Stay Healthy,
Ms. Ashley and Ms. Bri