The Wonderful - Messy! - World of Splat Painting!

Preschool and Kindergarten Outdoor Painting Activity
Photo Source: tinkerlab.com

Satisfy your child's/student's need for outdoor play and messy fun with this fabulous painting activity from Rachelle at TinkerLab! Your kiddos will practice measuring as they help you funnel rice {or sand, dried beans, etc.} into colorful balloons, build fine motor skills as they swirl and dip the balloons into the colored paint {by matching the color of the balloon to the paint, you'll also help younger learners strengthen color recognition!}, and develop gross motor skills as they aim and drop the balloons onto their canvas! If you've got the outdoor space, you won't want to miss out on this fun painting experience this spring/summer!

Splat Painting Variations

  • Use a small step-ladder {and lots of safety precautions} to drop the balloons from different heights. Compare the difference in splatter.
  • Fill the balloons with different materials and compare splatter patterns.
  • Try the "yo-yo" effect, tying the balloons to a piece of elastic and exploring the new splatter patterns.
  • Provide various methods of splatter painting - dip and throw painted paper towels, place a tennis ball into the leg of a pair of nylons for a yo-yo/bounce effect, cover fly swatters with loads of paint and smack the paper, fill balloons with watered down paint and throw at a target - the possibilities truly are endless {if you're willing to get a little messy!}.

Splat Printing

We also love the printing extension from TinkerLab. By placing pieces of paper over your wet splat paintings, you get wonderfully colorful prints that can be used for other crafts or displayed as individual pieces of artwork!

Start planning your own splat painting/printing adventure by checking out the colorful photos and various splat painting links Rachelle provides at TinkerLab!