Finger painting

What you need

Different coloured paints. (If you do not have paint feel free to be adventurous; you could use shaving foam or flour.)

Benefits

This gives your baby a chance to learn how to distinguish the different marks they are making in front of them. Finger painting promotes self-expression, creativity and imagination. Sensory experience of exploring paint, textures and prints.

The experience

Squeeze the paint on a tray (or other chosen ingredient) Allow your baby to explore the textures in the tray; use a lot of animated and exciting tones e.g. wow! It's cold! Show your baby how they can make different motions, shapes and marks using related words, e.g. repeat, round and round when you make a circle, up and down when you're making a zig zag. If your baby is very engaged, you could make it a bit more interesting by adding sticks, sponges, leaves and paint brushes to make marks. Have fun!