There are so many opportunities for playing with textures with every day art supplies but rough is one that doesn’t come as easy, but it’s not impossible. Sandpaper is really fun to use for all sorts of things. Just remember that when you do a sensory art project that you need to be prepared for mess since the whole point is to touch and feel! My son had so much fun ( by fun I mean made a huge mess)with this that we ended up in the bath immediately after.
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 sheets of sandpaper, some yellow and/or orange paint, a marker, a paint brush , scissors and glue.
- Draw a circle on one of the sheets.
- Cut the circle out, leave the other sheet whole, you will cut the rays into triangles later.
- Start by letting your child feel the sand paper, some kids will recoil from it, some will love the texture and explore it with their finger tips and nails for a long time.
- Next get the paint ready we wanted to use both colors since we were looking at pictures of the sun and I quote ” It’s not all yellow like I thought mommy!” so both colors were poured into a container for this project.
- Start painting the circle. We started with a brush and the sound the bristles made were really interesting. However I didn’t even have time to get a photo of him using a brush on the circle, he went straight for finger painting.
- Next he compared the rough paper to his smooth hands.
- Pass them the full sheet when they are ready.
- Remember that when you encourage finger painting, often a mess will follow, this is why you always use washable paint. These were not the only two hand prints on my table or his body, just the prettiest.
- Set the circle and other sheet up to dry and get in the bath.
- When dry ( ours took forever cause we had globs). Cut out the rays. If your child is willing have them cut, my son wanted NO part of cutting the sandpaper and I admit , I don’t enjoy cutting it either. I had shivers the whole time.
- Add glue to the back of the circle.
- Add your rays and let dry.
Other Activities About Texture:
meredeth says
hi there! i love all your ideas and check in daily to see what you guys are up to. i’m a mom at home with two boys – 4.5 yrs and 21 months. i’ve been looking forward to the summer because we can take the boys to our local pool. Have any swimming or pool activities that you would like to share? thanks, meredeth
admin says
I used to teach a half gymnastics, half swimming class called “Monkeys and Minnows” and one of our favorite pool games were :
What time is is Mr. Wolf – played in the shallow end
Ring Around The Rosie
and this song :
Swimming , Swimming in my swimming pool
When days are hot , when days are cool
In my swimming pool .
Breast stroke, side stroke and fancy diving too ,
oh don’t you wish that you had nothing else to do !
Cynthia says
Love sandpaper art! One of our favorites is to cut out a gingerbread man shape and then you rub the entire shape with a cinnamon stick – then decorate to look like a person (buttons, eyes, macaroni, yarn, anyting you can glue on). Smells yummy and tons of fun. Thanks for the great ideas, I look forward to using many over the coming months.
Clara Vaughn says
You could make sandpaper moons and stars and use glow in the dark paint too.