At RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Nicholas, the children in the toddler room have been curious and seeking materials to use when painting. Children would often use their hands as this allows them to experience texture, sensory exploration as well as creativity and curiosity. For the past month, toddlers have been asking for other materials other than paint brushes to paint, this allows the educators to brainstorm and be creative with the toddlers. Liam would ask educator Jhon for paint rollers, the children would follow educator Jhon to the art closet and would look inside asking him what else is inside the closet. Harlow and Sashwath would go inside looking for materials with an educator.
On this day, educator Ruth took out clean toilet brushes along with paint rollers, Sashwath looked up at Ruth and said, “Car please.” Educator Ruth quickly went over to the car bucket and got out 4 cars, and as she returned to the table the toddlers extended their bodies reaching for the cars. Harlow shared, “Look at this Ruth,” as she was strolling her car tires on the brown paper creating tire marks. Mason and Nivaaz quickly joined in bringing playdough rollers trying to paint. Mason would pick up the roller and use the handle as a dapper creating small circles on the brown paper. During this activity, this was able to enhance children’s learning about cognitive concepts such as colour mixing and problem solving.
One week later, educator Gerri provided the children with another painting activity that focused on using sea animals, while another educator provided the children with paint using the colour blue and white. Toddlers were able to use the sea animals’ bodies to paint. Hudson shared, “My whale is swimming,” and Daniel shared, “Baby shark go back and forth.” William and Daniel appeared to be curious using the sea animals’ bodies as they placed the animal’s tail in their mouth and tried to paint with the head of the sea animal.
As we look at children’s development, painting helps children’s development by enhancing their fine motor skills through brush handling and hand eye coordination. It also encourages creativity, self-expression, and problem solving while also supporting cognitive growth in areas like colour recognition and spatial awareness. This also allows children to take a social interest by engaging in small groups by observing and turn taking and lastly communicating as they would use expressive language by forming sentences, asking questions and as well as engaging in conversations.
