AGE
IN/OUTDOORS
DEVELOPMENTAL SKILLS
Change Perception, Creativity, Divergent Thinking, Hand-eye Coordination, Small Motor Skills, Visual Acuity
WATCH OUT!
This is a wet activity, cover your surface, self and child accordingly. Your markers will get wet and lose pigment at the tips, just replace the caps and they will be refreshed a few hours later.
MATERIALS - click to buy
- White construction paper, such as this example right here. Any light colored construction paper will do, but dark colors won't work well for this activity.
- Broad-tipped, child-safe watercolor markers, like the ones found here on Amazon.
- Large paint brush - We like the kind you use to touch up paint around the house found here, 2 to 3 inches wide works well.
- Water
- Unbreakable, child-friendly metal or plastic bowl like this example
HOW TO
- Have fun painting the entire sheet of paper with water.
- While it’s still wet, ask your child to use the markers to draw to their hearts content. It’s ok if the wet paper gets torn a little in the process.
- Skilly Spark: Watch the colors run. Talk about how the water makes their marks soften and change.
- Give different colored markers a try to see even more watery effects until their drawing is complete. Step away for a few, say 2 or 3 minutes, and see even more transformation when you come back. And when it dries, take a moment to remember how the marks looked when you started and now, how different it looks when it’s dry.
Keep the fun going
- Reverse it! Draw on dry paper and then paint it with water. Check out how the watery brush strokes change your kid's vision.
- When dry, these runny drawings make great wrapping paper and kid-friendly placemats.