The infants have been very engaged in exploring paint. When they see the paint jugs come out the get really excited. Last month they had a Paint Extravaganza, where they painted the entire classroom. The educators noticed that the infants were stomping in the paint and watching their feet make prints.
The educators wondered what they could offer to extend this interest. One day, our cook, Steph, brought in some bubble wrap and it gave educator Sarah an idea! What would happen if the infants had bubble wrap under their feet in the paint? Sarah set up a section of the classroom with long paper, paint and bubble wrap. The infants gathered around to watch. “Turn,” Brayden said. “You can have a turn Brayden. Come on over,” Sarah said. Everett asked for a turn next and Sarah lifted him into the painting section. At first, Sarah offered to wrap the bubbles around Everett and Brayden’s feet but they said no. Instead, they started to dip their feet into the containers of paint and stomp around the paper. Sarah placed a long piece of bubble wrap over top of the paint. “what happens if you stomp on the bubbles?” Sarah asked. Brayden came over and started jumping. “Oh, I hear the bubbles popping!” educator Kiva observed. At this time Walter had joined the painting. “Pop, pop,” he said as he pointed at the bubble wrap under his feet. Everett pointed to his ears to indicate that he also heard the popping.
Fiya, Allie and Noah also had turns in the painting area. They decided to use their fingers in the paint. “Dip, dip,” Noah repeated as he stuck his hand in the paint container. Then he gave the paper a high five. “Look Noah, now we can see your hand print on the paper,” educator Lorie pointed out to him. “High five,” Fiya said as she held her hand up to Lorie. Since they both had paint on their hands, some of it splashed out during the high five. This made Allie giggle and then she tried it. Once everyone was finished making marks on the paper, they had a chance to get their feet painted and walk across the paper individually. Once the paint was dry, the infants took some time to look at their creation. They pointed at colours and foot prints with excitement. This art work will be displayed in the infant classroom for parents to see.
As we continue our work with paint, we might ask families what materials they think we should add to our next work with paint. We also might also try making our own paint or even taking some paint outside to work with!
