This month in the school-age program we have been learning how to use different types of tools for a variety of every day activities. One afternoon Educator Tracy was gathering some things for our after-school activity and wondered how to make painting a bit different but also a lot of fun. While in the craft room I came across some straws and thought they would be a great way to do some painting but with using them to blow the paint on paper. Painting is always a favourite activity and with the straws the children were eager to get started. Tracy asked the children which colours of paint they would like, Maddy wanted pink and purple, Riley wanted purple, green and orange and Tanner wanted light blue, dark blue, pink and purple. Once the blobs of paint were on their papers the magic happened! Maddy did a soft blow first but we discovered the harder you blow the more the paint spreads so everyone started using more force to spread the blobs of paint. Once they were done, Tracy put some markers and googly eyes and the spread-out paint blobs became people. Once the children were done they all had a cute little portrait of each of their families. We absolutely loved how the pictures turned out. Sometimes the best activities are the ones that you use your imagination and “think outside the box!”
This activity is a great way to teach the children that you don’t always have to use the usual tools to create, build or make the super fun activities we all love to do. Improvising is a great way to help with either spontaneous or unplanned events and activities we come across in our day to day life.
