A lot of kids these days are getting taught in their homes rather than in school for safety reasons. Although parents are doing their best to keep their kids entertained and at the same time learn new lessons and develop new skills, things may sometimes get overwhelming.
Kids might need a change of pace and learn through a different avenue. One of the best activities to do that allows learning and fun play is through finger painting.
On the other hand, when parents hear the words finger painting, they often immediately think of the mess that is associated in such activities. But even if it can get messy, painting is a good activity for development. You can do this with other kids, too. You can organize painting parties and make it fun for everyone involved.
If you are still not convinced, here are more reasons why finger painting is good for kids:
- Stimulates kid’s senses – Finger painting involves a lot of senses including visual, kinesthetic and auditory sense. It allows the kids to see new things, feel things and hear things from their peers and instructors. Thus, the activity will be exciting and engaging for them.
- Allows development of fine motor skills – Kids, especially toddlers can really benefit from finger painting as it allows them to master their fine motor skills or the control of their hand and finger muscle. They can focus their control in their hands and fingers when they draw something. When they do it multiple times, they won’t need so much effort and focus in drawing, it will simply become easier.
- Exploring colors – Recognizing shades of colors needs mastery for children. Finger painting involves a lot of mixing colors so children will be exposed to a lot of different shades of colors and what colors to mix to get the desired shade of color they want.
- Improves hand-eye coordination in kids – While drawing using the hands and fingers may seem like a simple task, it actually involves control of miniscule muscles in the hands and fingers and eye coordination. Adults may have this skill mastered already but kids still need a lot of practice. Finger painting is one activity that helps them master the hand-eye coordination skill.
- Allows them to express their feelings and thoughts – Arts, especially painting can allow kids to express their thoughts and feelings without using words. They can express these thoughts and feelings through their use of colors and hand strokes they use in painting their pieces.
- Adding new words to their vocabulary – Learning about arts and painting in general will expose your kids to new words like shading, strokes, focal points and more. When you encourage children to talk about their art and how it came to be, they also become more expressive through words by describing the patterns, shapes and colors. This also helps develop their vocabulary and communication skills, too.
- Focuses on the process rather than the finished product – For kids, it is essential that they develop their focus in the process rather than the finished product. Finger painting can help in that. There is no specification on how a finished finger painting should look like so the kids’ focus will solely be about the step by step process in their creation. No pressure to make their painting look like something.
- Encourages creativity in kids – Like any arts class, you need creativity in creating your painting through finger painting. Thus, when kids participate in painting activities, they are stimulated to be more creative. They are challenged to put what they had imagined on canvas or paper.
- Good way to have fun – Learning from home can become stressful sometimes so kids need to have fun, too. Mixing colors, painting using your hands and creating with other kids, if you are doing it as a party, can be a fun way to learn and destress.
Finger painting is indeed a good activity for children of all ages. They are able to have fun and benefit from it by learning and mastering new skills. If you are worried about the mess they will make, you can do the activity outdoors and just prepare a “shower corner” so they can immediately shower after the activity.
For children below 6 years old, you can use edible paints for their finger painting session so won’t have to worry about tummy aches if they accidentally eat their paints. Using edible paints will also engage another sense, their sense of taste.