This is a fast and fun activity that can be done with almost any age.
- Gather your materials. You will need one ziplock per child and a few colors of paint.
- Pour the paint into your bag , flatten as much air out as you can, and then seal it.
- If you want to make the lesson about color mixing you can wait and add in another color after playing with the first color for a while, asking your child if they know what color it will turn into.
- You can make letters, numbers and pictures too. Remember to ask your child how it feels, is it cold, soft? squishy?
- For added fun you can put different colored paper under your ziplock and the designs will be more colorful!
* You may be wondering why my little model isn’t doing this activity. I did let him play with it but all he wanted to do was chew the bag- trust me though the preschool classes I have done this with love it! You may just want to avoid doing it with toddlers who are cutting teeth! *
Books!
These two authors are childhood favorites of mine, as sentimental as these two books are to me they are also perfect for the theme at hand!
” A Rainbow Of My Own” by Don Freeman is a charming story about wanting a rainbow, you may notice that the colors are out of order but I have always used that as a teaching tool in my classes.
” Little Blue and Little Yellow” by Leo Lioni is a profound book with underlying commentary about race relations while the surface story is about little blobs of color who when squished together turn into one green blob!
” A Rainbow Of My Own” by Don Freeman is a charming story about wanting a rainbow, you may notice that the colors are out of order but I have always used that as a teaching tool in my classes.
” Little Blue and Little Yellow” by Leo Lioni is a profound book with underlying commentary about race relations while the surface story is about little blobs of color who when squished together turn into one green blob!
alison says
Paint can be expensive…I’ve don’t this in my first grade with cheap hair gel from the dollar store 🙂 I bet pudding would also work.
Allie says
I love the hair gel, yes paint can be $ so with a group those alternatives are great!
Amanda says
The hair gel works AMAZING!! Also another tip is to add food coloring!
Aviva says
Yeh..until the baby rips the bag (like mine)… I used a ziploc and taped over it but that only delays the inevitable…
admin says
Oh no Aviva I am so sorry. I can honestly say I have never had that happen but I can see how it just takes one time to make a huge mess .
Destiny says
I would love to do this unfortunately my 2 year old has been trouble since birth lol and can open ziplock bags which he will be determined to do instead of play as they are intended. (He also figured out how to toss himself over baby gates and crawl out of his crib/playpen by 18 months) (>.<)
Allison McDonald says
My youngest is much more like that than my oldest was – I will send you luck but know that problem solvers are good we just have to stay a step ahead until they are a little older!