Roll & Paint – Math and Art Together

Now that my daughter is a very opinionated toddler she makes it very clear that she wants to do what her 5-year-old brother is doing. It’s not always easy to find activities that both kids can sit down and do together. This was the perfect after Easter project that uses plastic eggs and they could both sit together and make something. Whether your child is making circle prints like my daughter or rolling, counting and printing they are learning all about math and art while creating beautiful art!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some plastic Easter eggs (but any printmaking tool will do) paint, paper, a plate for the paint and some dice.
2. Start by pouring some fun colors of paint onto the plate.
3. For the beginner version, hand them an egg and start making prints. For safety reasons, toddlers like my daughter should use a big egg. Of course, she grabbed the small one but I watched her carefully and it never went in her mouth. They will one initial print then let them go wild…and wild she did.
4. For the advanced option roll the dice and see what you get. Whatever that number is is the number of times you make prints in the color of your choice.
5. Print.
6. Roll again. Print again… and keep going as long as there is room on the paper, or keep going on a new sheet.
7. Don’t forget about the messy toddler. When they are printing make sure to narrate some of what they are doing. “Oh, what a lovely red circle!”  ” That pink paint looks fabulous on your hair!”.

This can be done with all sorts of tools like toilet paper rolls, stamps, potatoes and so much more. What is your favorite non-conventional tool for painting?

Books About Painting

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont is guaranteed to entertain your child, even my toddler was laughing and anticipating the rhyming text which tickled me to no end! I’ve had some parents in the past not happy about the use of “ain’t”. And the little boy in the story painting everywhere. I respond by stating people do use “ain’t” and kids do paint on things they aren’t supposed to. To use this as an example of what you aren’t supposed to do. Ask your child what they think should happen if they painted all over the house? As far as using “Ain’t” I would play the traditional “It ain’t gonna rain no more” and explain that the author used that song as inspiration for the book.

Hugo and Miles In I’ve Painted Everything by Scott Magoon is going on my must-buy list. I have renewed this book for months from my local library. However, I have to return this book and I just don’t want to! The book is all about Hugo a painter who has painter’s block. He goes to Paris with his best friend Miles for inspiration, and among the sites, the masterpieces and thanks to the Eiffel tower he finds it! I love this book and my son just eats it up. He wants to go to Paris to the “Moosay Dor-see” to see Van Gogh and climb the Eiffel tower thanks to Hugo!

Willow by Denise Brennan-Nelson is another wonderful book about artistic spirit. Willow doesn’t follow the rules in art class, instead, she paints what she sees when she closes her eyes. Her teacher’s rules are unfair, restrictive and she is just plain mean! It’s hard as a teacher to read stories with mean, repressive teachers in them, and this one takes the cake. Willow doesn’t stop painting blue apples. She is confident in her individuality and isn’t as bothered by her mean teacher as I am. This story is really worth a look!

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For more quick tips on helping your child learn to read check out my book; Raising A Rock-Star Reader. It is packed with fun ideas for families, book lists, and advice for parents.