Finger painting

I have two favorite activities in the art area, both of which are despised disliked by many of my colleagues.  One is cooking, the other is finger painting.

Finger painting is messy, really messy.  And it often gets a little crazy.  There are so many things to keep track of - paint, trays (if you're using them), smocks and clips, paper, markers, and colorful fingers.  Somehow, I love the chaos of this activity and the sensory exploration it allows.

There are many great ways to lead a finger painting activity in a classroom like mine, but I'll lay out my most common practices.

In our classroom, a teacher is in a rotation for a week, usually allowing 5 days of a given activity and repeated experiences for interested children.

The first choice to make is whether you want finger painting to be a hands and fingers activity or more of a full-body sensory activity.  To keep this activity a little more contained, many of our teachers choose to use the under side of a plastic tray as the painting surface for each child.  Otherwise, you can use the top of the table, either sectioned off with masking tape (as I've done in the above picture) or with a bare tabletop.

I set up each chair with a smock (and a clip to help the failing Velcro), ready and waiting for an interested child to come over.  Then I squirt a little bit of Crayola Fingerpaint onto the table (or tray) in front of each chair.

I also prepare a stack of fingerpainting paper in a reachable location with a couple of Sharpie markers for making prints of the fingerpainting.  Any time I have a break in the action while children are painting, I write their names on the paper to be prepared.

I start the week using one of the primary colors and switching each day - maybe using red on Monday and blue on Tuesday.  On Wednesday and Thursday, I like to add in a second primary color, as well as white - the white helps darker colors more visible when mixing, especially mixing red and blue to make purple.  On Friday, I use all three primary colors, as well as white.

While children are working, we talk about the colors and their mixing, as well as the different ways children are using their hands and bodies to interact with the paint.

When they reach a point where they are satisfied with their product, I invite them to make a print of their design.  The print goes on the drying rack, they wash their hands and remove their smocks, and I scrape the excess paint off the table to prepare for the next ready fingers.

I hope you can come to enjoy this activity as much as I do!