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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Stupid Question Re: Fingerpainting
SilverSabre25 04:20 PM 12-13-2010
Um...how do you do it?

Okay, okay, beyond stick fingers in paint, then on paper. I know that part! But, do you put the paint in cups and have paper towels for them to wipe their fingers between colors? Let the colors get mixed? Squirt paint directly onto the paper, or onto a separate paper plate? Have a cup of water for them to rinse their hands? Or do they usually not care about every page turning into a brown mucky puddle?

I honestly can't remember *how* I fingerpainted as a child even though I remember doing it...and my mom is a little bit unavailable for asking (and I think I asked her before anyway and she couldn't remember either)
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Crystal 04:34 PM 12-13-2010
It's about the process, not the end product, so I allow them to mix it up as much as they want. Yes, it usually ends up brown, or with a hole in the middle of it, but to me it's about them enjoying it, feeling it, smelling it, talking about it, not what it looks like in the end.

You can make cheap fingerpaint - WAY cheaper than buying it, if you're interested.
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kendallina 04:36 PM 12-13-2010
In my experience, the younger ones (2-3 yrs old) don't mind that it all mixes together and changes brown, and they seem to prefer it that way, so I say let them go for it! It's really more about the sensory experience and the science experience of witnessing the change the colors make.

The older ones (4 and up) sometimes, but not always might want to keep the colors separate and actually try to paint something recognizable.

I have just 2-3 yr olds right now, so I just give them a 1/2 of a paper plate with some colors and they can do whatever they want with it. They don't wash their hands until they're done, but if someone requested to wash in between then I would probably provide a wet wash cloth for them to do so.

Happy fingerpainting! One of my favorite activities!
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nikia 04:59 PM 12-13-2010
I have on those rolls of papers I'm not sure what the techinal name is as my brain is dead right now lol. But I roll out sheets for each kid tape them on my kitchen floor and then pour the paint on the paper. I let them mix the colors and go crazy lol. The kids I have don't mind having it on their hands feet or wherever tip we are done. I usually end up rinsing all the kids off in the sink lol. But they have fun.
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jen 05:11 PM 12-13-2010
Originally Posted by Crystal:
It's about the process, not the end product, so I allow them to mix it up as much as they want. Yes, it usually ends up brown, or with a hole in the middle of it, but to me it's about them enjoying it, feeling it, smelling it, talking about it, not what it looks like in the end.

You can make cheap fingerpaint - WAY cheaper than buying it, if you're interested.
I'm interested!?
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KEG123 05:44 PM 12-13-2010
I normally squeeze a blob of 3 colors (the primaries) on the sheet of paper and let them go at it. Mixing is fun! Sometimes I just do two colors, blue and red=purple, etc.
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SilverSabre25 06:10 PM 12-13-2010
Thank you! It feels like such a stupid question, lol. I feel more fingerpainting in our future!

(Now if I can just get the dcps to STOP sending their kids in nice pretty clothes that shouldn't get messy...)
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Crystal 06:12 PM 12-13-2010
Cornstarch Fingerpaint

Ingredients


3 cups water
1 cup cornstarch
food coloring or liquid watercolors

Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in a separate bowl with water. Remove boiling water from heat and add cornstarch mixture. Return to heat, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture is clear and thick (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.

As the mixture is cooling, divide into separate bowls and add food coloring. Let the children carefully mix in the coloring.

I use liquid watercolors instead of food coloring. I use empty playdough cups to store it in. I put the liquid watercolors in the playdough cups prior to spooning in the corntsarch mixture so it's ready to mix and it doesn't splash when you stir it. I double this recipe and it fills about 12 playdough cups of fingerpaint.
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Crystal 06:13 PM 12-13-2010
Originally Posted by SilverSabre25:
Thank you! It feels like such a stupid question, lol. I feel more fingerpainting in our future!

(Now if I can just get the dcps to STOP sending their kids in nice pretty clothes that shouldn't get messy...)
It's in my contract not to send kids in clothes that they mind getting stained.....we paint every day....a couple of times getting paint on nice clothes is usually all it takes to teach them to send 'em in play clothes.
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SilverSabre25 06:16 PM 12-13-2010
Originally Posted by Crystal:
It's in my contract not to send kids in clothes that they mind getting stained.....we paint every day....a couple of times getting paint on nice clothes is usually all it takes to teach them to send 'em in play clothes.
Thanks for the recipe! That looks awesome. And cornstarch is fun to play with anyway!

This is in my contract, actually, it's just that the parents seem to ignore it. Bah. I'll put a reminder in my winter newsletter and maybe they'll get better at it in the new year.
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AfterSchoolMom 06:18 PM 12-13-2010
If you want to contain the mess, have each child fingerpaint on a cookie sheet or a plastic tray.

I remember when I was in preschool (no really, I do), the teachers would just dump a pile of paint directly on the table and we'd just play in it with our fingers. You don't get a finished product to take home that way, but it's fun!
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Crystal 06:25 PM 12-13-2010
Originally Posted by SilverSabre25:
Thanks for the recipe! That looks awesome. And cornstarch is fun to play with anyway!

This is in my contract, actually, it's just that the parents seem to ignore it. Bah. I'll put a reminder in my winter newsletter and maybe they'll get better at it in the new year.
Nope, no newsletter reminder from me. The only reminder they get is clothes with paint. we do so much painting that I don't have time to care if they get paint on their clothes! They wear smocks, but it still gets on sleeves and pants. I don't give it a second thought if they have cute clothes on....if they wanna paint, they paint

trust me, the parents really do get it if you just go about your daily art, mess and all and their kid comes home with paint on their clothes every day..
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SilverSabre25 06:30 PM 12-13-2010
I'm going to give them the benefit of one warning. We haven't really been doing any art up until now because of the ages I"ve been dealing with--most of them are under 2 and are have NOT been interested in things like art. And have a tendency to eat everything. Even crayons. And markers. I also haven't had a useful sort of table for them to do things on--now I have one of those HUGE 8-seater picnic tables from Little Tikes. So, I'm finally getting on the ball and feeling like I can toss art into our days now.
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ninosqueridos 06:37 PM 12-13-2010
I have mostly between 18m-3y.....I tape a paper plate for each child onto the table so it doesn't slide everywhere....and let them choose which colors they want a squirt of on their plates (usually 2-4 colors max)......and I tape their papers to the table, too - I find it minimizes their frustration of the paper sliding.............and I work alone so I cannot afford a big paint mess to clean up on my own. Have fun!
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momma2girls 06:51 PM 12-13-2010
I also do something as pudding paint for the toddlers- they love it, and they can lick it off their hands if they want!!
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SilverSabre25 07:08 PM 12-13-2010
Do you have them paint on paper or directly on the table, or something else? (seems like a finished product with that would get smelly, lol!)
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blueclouds29 06:35 PM 03-07-2011
Originally Posted by ninosqueridos:
I have mostly between 18m-3y.....I tape a paper plate for each child onto the table so it doesn't slide everywhere....and let them choose which colors they want a squirt of on their plates (usually 2-4 colors max)......and I tape their papers to the table, too - I find it minimizes their frustration of the paper sliding.............and I work alone so I cannot afford a big paint mess to clean up on my own. Have fun!
I do the same thing and work alone. Taping the paper to the table works like magic cause i can clean them all and whenever i have time just go back and rip them off the table. I sometime i just take it off and put it right on the wall to dry with the tape on it. Helps a lot!!
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Crystal 07:21 PM 03-07-2011
You can do it however you'd like! Tape down butcher paper and give them paper plates with paint, OR throw down a tarp or plastic tablecloth on a hard surface - put a few piles of FPaint in the center and let em go for it -add a few "tools"(flyswatters are FUN!)to use if you'd like. Use it at the easel. Use it outside. Try using it to mix colors.

Just use your imagination and provide the children with the tools they need to create!
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Symphony 07:26 PM 03-07-2011
Originally Posted by momma2girls:
I also do something as pudding paint for the toddlers- they love it, and they can lick it off their hands if they want!!
We fingerpaint with pudding, yogurt, whip cream, pumpkin pie filling, lots of great options! I have a dcg who is almost two and she still eats everything we use for art. I found her just today hiding behind a chair halfway through a crayon. It was either no art or find a way she could do it safely!
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Abigail 07:30 PM 03-07-2011
Originally Posted by momma2girls:
I also do something as pudding paint for the toddlers- they love it, and they can lick it off their hands if they want!!
I saw this on Jon and Kate plus 8....really should have been just six because they never seem to focus on their twins.

Does anyone have paint brushes or other tools besides a fly swatter available for finger painting? Do you require smocks to be worn? I'm thinking about getting a bunch of 2T-4T white shirts and ty-dying them to use as smocks....do you think that will work?
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Symphony 07:53 PM 03-07-2011
Originally Posted by Abigail:
I saw this on Jon and Kate plus 8....really should have been just six because they never seem to focus on their twins.

Does anyone have paint brushes or other tools besides a fly swatter available for finger painting? Do you require smocks to be worn? I'm thinking about getting a bunch of 2T-4T white shirts and ty-dying them to use as smocks....do you think that will work?
That sounds like an awesome idea! I have smocks, but they are sleeveless! They work really well on the toddlers because they are pretty big, but my preschoolers fit in them and their clothes are not protected! Maybe we'll have to make art shirts one day, fun!
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melskids 02:14 AM 03-08-2011
sometimes i put the paint right on their table and let them have at it. if you want a "finished" product, press a piece of paper on the table when they are done and make a print!!!!

as far as utensils, we use all sorts of things. i have fingerpaint scrapers i bought from discount school supply that make cool designs, but we use all sorts of things from around the house. kitchen utensils, like potato mashers, ricers, wisks, whatever i pull out of the drawer!

balloons half blown up

hairbrushes and combs

toilet plungers (new of course!!!! from the $ store) are a favorite around here
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Meeko 04:39 AM 03-08-2011
In the warmer weather we take the paint outside. I use clips to put butcher paper up on the fence and away they go!
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youretooloud 05:24 AM 03-08-2011
I usually put the paint directly on the table or in the paint tray, then when they are finished, I put the paper on top of the picture, smooth, then lift.
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blueclouds29 05:27 AM 03-08-2011
I also heard that vertical coloring is also good for their motor skills. I taped paper to my kitchen wall and had my kids color standing up at the wall. I also put a paper down low so my crawler could color too! I also did chalk like this too so it would come off easier.
They also say coloring sitting on the floor is good for them too. So i taped a butcher paper to the floor and had them color sitting on the floor! They loved it cause it was something different for them!
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Tags:arts and crafts, crafts, finger painting
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