purposeful play
Paint the Driveway
Gather a wide variety of paint brushes, containers, cups and bowls. Get buckets and fill them with water. Bring everything outside and let your child “paint” the driveway or sidewalk with the water.
Kids love this because it gives them the effect of painting without the use of paint.
Parents love it because it is MESS free (however not WET free). So…be prepared for your child to get soaked!! However what’s better than that on a hot summer day?!
materials
Paint brushes
Cups, buckets, bowls, pots other containers
LOTS of water
purpose
Time outside
Strengthens fine motor skills (when using paint brushes)
Strengthens gross motor skills (when carrying buckets and bowls of water)
Allows for experimentation with cause and effect
Gets out energy
Water play is therapeutic
variations
Encourage your child to write their name using the paint brushes.
Ask your child to make shapes and lines with the paint brushes.
Bring out large buckets of water with a ladle or large spoon. Allow your child to refill their cups on their own from the bucket of water by using the ladle/spoon
Add sidewalk chalk and let your child experiment with sidewalk chalk and water
purposeful play
Rainbow Fish
Read The Rainbow Fish by: Marcus Pfister together with your child. Check your local library for a copy, or click the link above to purchase!
After you read the book together, talk about the book with your child. Ask your child questions about the plot and the characters. Ask them what they liked and disliked about the book..
Talk to your child about whether or not they’ve ever felt like the Rainbow Fish. Have they ever felt like they didn’t want to share something that was special to them. Share some of your own stories that relate to the book.
Once you’ve discussed the book-introduce this art activity.
Give your child a blank cutout of a fish and ask them to decorate it however they would like. Provide colorful markers, crayons, colored pencils, tissue paper cut into scale shapes, glitter glue, tinfoil scraps cut into fish scale shapes, gems and a googly eye.
materials
Fish cut-out
Tissue paper or construction paper “scales”
Tin-foil “scales”
Gems
Glitter glue
Regular glue
Markers, crayons, colored pencils
Googly eye
purpose
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Extends and reinforces what the child learned from the book
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Highlights the importance of sharing our gifts
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Brings literature to life
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Engages creativity through art
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Strengthens fine motor skills
Increases print knowledge
Exposure to new vocabulary words
variations
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Ask your child to name their fish when they are done. Then ask them to tell you a story about their fish. Dictate what they say on a note card and display their story with their newly created fish.
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If your child shows a great interest in fish you can use this activity to lead into a focused study of fish.
