Making Foil Paint Prints

My three year old loves to paint.  I mean he really, really loves to paint.  We paint almost every single day, sometimes multiple times each day.  While he is perfectly happy to use the same brush and paper every time I enjoy mixing it up.  I set out different objects to for him to paint with, so we can see the prints left behind.

While homeschooling my five year old (JZ) I set up trays for my three year old (J-Bug) with fun and educational activities.  He can freely choose which tray to do when.  He almost always reaches for the tray with paint first.  For this tray I took foil scraps from a previous project and manipulated them into different shapes to see how we could paint with them.  I left the foil and two colors of paint on the tray.

J-Bug really enjoyed rolling the foil ball across the paper.  I knew this would be a big project, so I spread out a long sheet of butcher paper.

These days it seems like most of our painting projects turn into finger painting.  My rule is generally: inside = finger painting is okay, outside = body painting is allowed.  My boys are good about respecting this rule and only need occasional reminders.  On this particular day J-Bug asked if he could step on the paint.  After considering it for a moment including scoping out the set up, I agreed to it.  Usually when we paint inside it is at the table or on a small piece of paper.  Since I already had the butcher paper spread out, and we were using washable paint I decided there was no harm.  J-Bug happily walked back and forth across the paper many times before telling me he was ready to get cleaned up.  While walking he described what he was doing, “It feel squishy between my toes!” “The paint is cold, Mommy!”  When he was done I carried him to the bath tub for a quick rinse.

Our projects don’t always end the way I imagined, but we usually have more fun when I follow his lead.