Stupid Question Re: Fingerpainting

[SilverSabre25]

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)

[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.

[kendallina]

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!

[nikia]

I have on those rolls of papers I'm not sure what the techinal name is as my brain is dead right now . 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 . 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 . But they have fun.

[jen]

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!?

[KEG123]

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.

[SilverSabre25]

Thank you! It feels like such a stupid question, . 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...)

[Crystal]

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.

[Crystal]

Thank you! It feels like such a stupid question, . 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. ::

[SilverSabre25]

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.

[AfterSchoolMom]

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!

[Crystal]

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..

[SilverSabre25]

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.

[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!

[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!!