PAINTING - QUICK HOWS AND WHYS!

Quick Paint Recipes that are OUTSIDE THE BOX: 

Sorry there are not exact measurements for some of the recipes - be a scientist with your child and experiment with how much of each ingredient you need! 

• Puff Paint 
• Glue, Shaving Cream and Washable Paint  

• Shiny Paint 
• Condensed Milk and Color (food color if you don't mind staining or washable liquid watercolor)

• Finger Paint (thicker than regular paint) 
• 1/2 Cup Flour, 2 Cup Water, and Color 
• Mix flour with a little water 
• Stir out lumps until smooth
• add rest of water
• cook over medium heat until thick and shiny 
• add color 

• Sticky Paint
• Corn Syrup and Color 

• Shampoo Paint
• Shampoo, Water and Color 
• Mix shampoo with small amount of water and color with an electric beater 
• if too thick add more water, if too thin add more shampoo

Things to Remember when Painting with your Child: 

• It is the process not the product that matters! 
• It will be messy - that is the fun of it!!  
• Plan ahead
• Washcloths, Soap Water, Wet Wipes, etc. handy
• Take off their clothes and let them paint on their bodies 
• Put an old sheet under them 
• Paint in the bathtub  
• REFRAIN FROM COMMENTS LIKE, "WHAT DID YOU MAKE?" (LOOK AT ITEM ONE! AND CONSIDER HOW YOU WOULD FEEL IF YOU WERE WORKING HARD ON YOUR ART AND SOMEONE ASKED THAT), "THAT'S PRETTY" OR "I LIKE IT" AS THESE FOCUS ON THE PRODUCT. 
• INSTEAD TRY FOCUSING YOUR CONVERSATION DURING THEIR PAINTING EXPERIENCES ON WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND HOW THEY ARE DOING IT "I SEE YOU USING THE PURPLE." ; "YOUR DRIPPING THE PAINT OFF YOUR FINGERS, I SEE THE SPLATTERS IT MAKES ON YOUR LEG"; "YOU ARE VERY FOCUSED ON YOUR WORK" ; "YOU ARE WORKING SO HARD ON YOUR ART" THESE COMMENTS ARE SPECIFIC TO THE CHILD'S EFFORTS AND INCREASE THEIR AWARENESS OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING WHILE ADDING IN NEW VOCABULARY WORDS! 

What your Child is Gaining, Developmentally Speaking, from these Experiences: 

• Physical Development: 
• motor skills need for later writing skills
• hand-eye coordination 
• Emotional Development: 
• a sense of accomplishment 
• self-efficacy and self-esteem (a sense that they can!) 
• a medium for self-expression 
• Language Development 
• this depends on how YOU approach the situation
• as they work to can build on their thinking by talking about their actions in detail and asking questions (even if they do not have the verbal skills to respond! See "Language Development" Page)
• builds their vocabulary and exposer to new words  
• gives them practice in the workings of conversations 
• connects words (symbols, if you will) and their environment in a concrete, meaningful manner 
• Cognitive Development: 
• gives them a chance to explore and experiment with:
• cause and effect
• textures 
• connect the words for colors and possibly numbers (this, again, is based on how YOU facilitate their work) with what they actually represent