Body Art

The basic idea

Does your wee one get more pen on themselves than the page? Today that’s OK! An hour before bathtime, grab washable felt tips, face paint or anything safe for skin, and start drawing patterns on your arms, legs, anywhere you can reach.

Over to you, wee one

Some children will prefer to draw/paint on you at first, but drawing on their own skin is a great way for young children to understand drawing as they can both feel and see the patterns they make. Describe the marks as they create – are they long or short? Fast or slow? Are they gentle?

Cheeky bonuses

• Develops fine motor skills
• Multi-sensory learning
• Patterns, building vocabulary
• Makes mark making fun and relevant

Variations

• Gently trace the lines and shapes on their bodies – touch is great for bonding
• Do the paints/pens wipe off the surface of the bath easily? If so, the whole bath could be their canvas as well as their bodies!

And remember…

Drawing on paper can be difficult for little hands – if you encourage drawing on more interesting, accessible surfaces like bodies, they can build their skills without frustration.