Throughout the year, we offer a variety of painting activities in the classroom. We begin by providing tempera paint at the easel with traditional brushes. This seemingly simple activity is ripe with opportunities for growth. Painting with brushes provides opportunities to understand physical properties as they see how the paint spreads, drips and how colors combine. It also exercises the small muscles of children’s hands and provides opportunities for self-expression. Painting at the easel is regularly available to children, but we also offer other types of painting periodically.
Last week, we introduced unique brushes to use with paint. Some brushes had a series of loops on the bottom, while others had different shapes that could be used to various effects on the paper. We offered these brushes with tempera paint and demonstrated ways to use them during group time.
This type of painting stretches children’s thinking as they engage with the same paint using new tools. It encourages fine motor development, visual discrimination, hand-eye coordination and an understanding of cause and effect. It also provides a vehicle for creative expression and is enjoyable. Children used these brushes in a variety of ways. Some pushed down as if using stamps, while others twirled or slid them on their papers. We offered this activity multiple days and many children returned to try the brushes in new ways.
