No, I am not using child labor to spruce up my house, this activity will amaze you at it’s simplicity and how much kids LOVE it. I used to do this with my class on nice days when they would get stir crazy inside! The key to making this last is to wait to introduce the different brushes and sponges.
- Gather your materials. You will need some water, and a variety of paint brushes ( make sure they are clean you don’t want to really paint your house).
- Dip your paint brush into the water and start painting! Fences or other unpainted works the best because it will darken when “painted”.
- While you are painting with your child, point out the drywall and the wet brush and ask them what happens when they paint it.
Little exchanges like this are fantastic teaching opportunities. Remember though if they just want to do it in peace, let them you can always recap later.
- When your child starts getting uninterested- in an insanely enthusiastic way introduce the next brush. I know that this is hard for people who aren’t used to being surrounded by small kids, but a little enthusiasm goes a long way- feel free to fake it too.My son loved the roller- I gave it to him last and ended up having to grab a coffee cause he played with it for almost 20 minutes alone! ( by grabbing a coffee I mean from my kitchen, not Starbucks).
We’ve tried painting with water before and it went over really well with my three year old (http://logansbabyblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/painting-with-water.html) I hadn’t thought about using a paint roller –thanks for the idea!
We did this with the 3 year old when we were actually painting. He wanted to help so badly but we didnt want him to make a mess of things so we gave him some water and asked him to paint the fence outside. Kept him entertained and happy long enough for us to finish our work.
Smart!