Fine motor development
Toddlers use their hands to make marks on a stationary bag of paint.
Be Prepared: Use the same color or different colors of paint in each bag. Place approximately three tablespoons of paint inside each bag. Remove air from the bag and close. Secure the top with tape. Cover a low table with white paper and affix so it does not slide. Use strong tape to secure each bag to the white paper on the table.
Invite several toddlers to join you at the table. Explain there is paint in each of the bags. Demonstrate several ways to use your fingertips to make lines or scribbles in the paint. Draw attention to what happens to the paint in the bag.
Encourage toddlers to use their fingers and palms of each hand to draw lines and marks in the paint bags. Suggest a toddler use one hand and then his/her opposite hand for making marks.
Describe each toddler’s actions with the paint. “Justin, you made a curvy mark on the paint bag.” Repeat and expand on toddlers’ utterances.
Toddlers will differ in their approach to creating marks on a bag. Some may use fingertips exclusively and others may enjoy using a flat palm to press. If you notice a toddler is making defined and clear marks, you may wish to demonstrate making a circular shape with one pointer finger (index finger). Give each toddler plenty of time to explore and use different methods for making marks on the bag. The bags may be reused later in the day or saved for the following day.
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
Toddlers engage in finger painting.
Be Prepared: Cover a low table with newsprint for easy cleanup. The surface of a tray is smooth and easier to spread with finger paint than any kind of paper. Use primary colors of finger paints. The activity description below offers three different colors. Inviting a toddler to use one color only is suggested, at least initially. Have a cup of water nearby to sprinkle on the paint trays if the finger paint does not spread easily.
[Invite 3–4 toddlers to a low table for finger painting. Help each toddler with an art smock or painting shirt. Kneel at the table and place a tray before each toddler. Place 2–3 bottles of finger paint on the table.]
[Point to the paint bottles and tray as you tell the toddlers about finger painting.]
Today we have finger paints to make marks and scribbles on your tray. You may choose the color you like. We have blue, red, and yellow paints. I will put some paint on your tray after you tell me what color you want to use. Everyone will get paint.
[Ask each toddler what color of paint he/she wants to use. Point to each color and say its name. Example: “Would you like red paint or would you like yellow paint?” Pause for a word or pointing or gesture. Describe the toddler’s response and your actions. Example: “Okay, D.J. you said ‘yes’ when I pointed to the yellow paint. Now I am opening the top and putting a little yellow paint on your tray.”
Put about two tablespoons of paint on a tray. Invite toddlers to use their fingers or the palm of their hand to touch and spread their chosen paint on the tray. You may wish to show how to use fingertips, especially your pointer (index) finger, to create marks in the paint.
Describe each toddler’s actions with the paint. Focus more on their hand or finger actions than on the look of the paint on the tray. Example: “Your hands are moving around and around.”
At an appropriate moment during toddlers’ explorations, demonstrate moving both hands side to side and back and forth.
Wipe excess paint off a toddler’s hands with a paper towel before he/she begins washing in the sink.
If you wish to capture the toddler’s scribbles for display or a portfolio, lightly press a sheet of sturdy paper over the finger paint design. Show it to the toddler.]
We painted on a tray with our hands and fingers! You told me the color you wanted to use.
The opportunity to use one or both hands in a medium that naturally lends itself to large, broad motions fosters coordination of hand and finger muscles. Finger painting also promotes use of fingers together and separately. Support each toddler’s preferred level of participation. It is fine for a toddler to touch the paint with one finger and choose to stop. Repeating the activity regularly will give toddlers experiences to build upon. It is not a good idea to put a child’s hands in finger paint because it may be unsettling and prompt the toddler to feel out of control.
For some toddlers, the cool and smooth paint is especially appealing and they may begin to spread it on their arms and/or face. Wipe the paint off gently and repeat, “We keep paint on the tray.”
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
Toddlers use paintbrushes to mix different colors of paints on a tray.
Be Prepared: Cover a table with newsprint. Arrange a variety of paintbrushes on the table. Provide three cups of paint plus a tray for each child. Use paints that blend into pleasing colors. Secure brushes that easily fit into a cup.
Invite several toddlers to paint at a low table covered with newsprint. Help each child get an art smock fastened. Push up shirtsleeves if necessary. Talk with the toddlers about the brush sizes available and the colors in the cups. Encourage each toddler to apply paint to the tray as he/she wishes.
Kneel beside the table to talk with toddlers about their efforts. Draw attention to the way colors mix together and change. Example: “I see lots of colors. The colors are mixing. The colors are changing!” Avoid asking a toddler what he/she painted.
Encourage toddlers to use one hand and then the opposite hand. Draw attention to areas of the tray than are void of color. Ask a toddler if he/she would like to reach or stretch to apply paint at the edges of the tray.
If you wish to save an image, take a photo or press heavy paper onto the tray to make a print.
Toddlers are generally pleased to apply paint and observe the effects. The process of manipulating a paintbrush and noticing how colors mix and change colors are important aspects of the activity. Some toddlers may prefer to use the paints as finger paints. If a toddler has his/her hand covered in paint, offer paper to make a handprint.
Fine motor skills develop over time through different activities. Painting in the toddler years is one of the ways young children can develop muscle control needed for later important tasks, such as holding a pencil and cutting with scissors.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: Simple shape puzzles, container with plush toy fish, crayons and paper, cups for scooping and dumping, White Rabbit’s Colors (Little Rabbit Books) by Alan Baker, Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
The materials suggested here promote fine motor development. Toddlers will enjoy taking toy fish out of a container placed on a low surface, and also returning the toys to the container. The opportunity to draw and make marks with crayons on paper is a good complement to the use of paints in Options 1–3. Place small cups in the sensory table with water or dry material for scooping and dumping. Engage toddlers in books focused on colors, individually or in a small gathering.
Materials Needed: lacing yarn, party plate, small rattles, scarves, sidewalk chalk, beads
Preschool-age children may enjoy lacing yarn through holes punched around the outer edge of a paper party plate. Reaching and holding small rattles and feeling the silky edges of scarves will be enjoyable for infants. Outdoors, toddlers and preschool-age children will enjoy sidewalk chalk. During an informal gathering, lead children in a finger-play song, such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” that involves hand and finger movements. Also, sing and demonstrate the hand movements to the song “Where is Thumbkin?”
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