Although I love a good and messy sensory experience for my little ones on occasion, I can also do without the clean up! Finding mess-free alternatives to sensory activities are a great way to keep your baby or toddler busy while eliminating the treacherous clean up.
This no-mess finger paint activity idea came when trying to give my toddlers a fun experience right after a bath. I realized that I didn’t want them to get all messy once again so I came up with this activity.
Finger painting can be a calming sensory activity, but also a bit of a mess. This is especially true if you have a highly sensory-seeking child that doesn’t exactly follow the rules. If I walk away from my toddlers for one second, finger paint would be splattered on the ceiling! That’s why a no-mess alternative is my favorite option.
If you’re interested in getting started with this super simple, no-mess finger painting activity for your baby or toddler, read on for all the details!
What You Need:
What To Do:
1. Squeeze a generous amount of finger paint onto a paper plate.
2. Add a dash of glitter.
3. If you can find any other little craft materials or trinkets to throw in, use those too! You can add puffy stickers, googly eyes, puffy paint, or any miniature plastic toys.
4. Place the plate inside the ziplock bag and close it shut.
5. Hand the whole package to your baby or toddler and let them smear the paint with their hands and have fun!
How Your Child Will Learn:
Although this is a great sensory experience, this no-mess finger painting activity can also help your child develop other skills. It can improve fine motor skills by allowing your child to use their pointer finger to draw, trace, and swirl.
They can learn their primary and secondary colors by teaching them what colors are on their plate and how they mix together to form different colors.
You can help your child learn their letters, numbers, or shapes, as well. Draw certain shapes, letters, or numbers that they are learning and have them trace what you have drawn. If they are older toddlers, they can make these by themselves!
Make sure you’re always incorporating language into all your activities by continuously talking about what you’re doing. Repeat the shapes you have drawn, the colors you used, or the letters that they’re tracing. Take it a step further by talking about the sounds that the letters make or what colors you would need to make new colors.
They’ll have so much fun swirling around the paint and you’ll be happy that you don’t have to clean up a mess! Try it several times with all different colors.
I hope you enjoyed this no-mess finger paint activity for your babies and toddlers, but try to incorporate some regular finger painting for your child as well so they can experience the mess!
