Painting and Writing with Water
From the time my oldest kids were toddlers, painting with water has been a favorite activity!
It’s as simple as providing your child with a small container of water and a paintbrush and turning them loose:
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- on the sidewalk
- in the driveway
- on the patio
- along a wooden fence.
The options are endless!
I speak from experience when I say this activity can keep a kiddo busy for all kinds of time – drawing, writing, whatever comes to mind for them.
Adding food coloring to the water is fun, too!
The first time we did this activity, my preschooler practiced writing his name, and my oldest practiced writing some of his spelling words.
We painted rocks that we had recently found on a nature hunt, and we drew and painted all kinds of different pictures.
I love that activities like this gift us with the opportunity to practice different things we’re learning while also being something I can allow my kids to explore independently – allowing their imaginations to take them wherever they want to go.
Over the years, we have continued using this activity in different ways.
Kids can practice writing:
- the letters of the alphabet – manuscript and cursive
- small and large numbers – Don’t forget about numbers with decimals.
- name writing
- important addresses and phone number(s)
- sight words
- spelling words
- vocabulary terms
- Latin/Greek Roots
- math problems (Solving made fun!)
- and more.
Kids can draw:
- lines and squiggles (These are important – especially for pre-writers!)
- geometric shapes
- their hand prints/footprints
- things they see around them outside
- their favorite character(s)
My kids have always enjoyed creating with water while I read aloud to them.
Here’s a peek at my youngest daughter painting with water while I read “Charlotte’s Web” aloud to her and her sister.
The back porch has always been a favorite reading spot for them.
About the Colored Water
The first time we tried this, everything started out pretty tame…except for mom running low on yellow food coloring and everyone falling apart because their yellow wasn’t showing up all that great on the concrete.
Then the color mixing began – which I rolled with because that’s all part of the learning process and I am all about embracing those magical moments of discovery. Ha!
However, everyone ended up covered in blue and green colored water – hands, feet, arms, legs, chest, all of it. “It was a magic trick!”, they said.
Long story short, I think on a larger scale, I prefer the clear water option.
The Same Activity on a Smaller Scale
Interested in a smaller version of this same idea?
Try a small container of water and Q-tips – allowing your child to write with water on a piece of colorful construction paper.
This option works really well in a classroom environment.
Tracing with Water
In our homeschooling, we have another favorite water-related activity we like to do!
We like to use chalk to write
letters…
our names…
sight words…
spelling words, and vocabulary terms, and then trace over them with a wet paintbrush!
If you’re like me, you are always after simple ideas that can be adapted for all of the different ages in your home, and this one is perfect.
Want more of a glimpse into how we trace with water? You can find more details here.
Does your child want to learn to play chess?