This fun activity is a lot less messy than using paints, but it still helps your child learn to make marks.
Instead of using paint or pens, children can have fun drawing with water. They can do this on a dry path or fence outside.
Fill a bowl or bucket with water. Grab a paint brush too.
Then show your child how they can dip the brush in the water and draw shapes. The water will leave the surface darker, so you can see shapes, patterns and letters if you paint them. Try drawing something your child likes; their favourite animal or a family member. You can also write their name, so they learn what it looks like.
Talk about what you’re drawing while you do it.
Now let your child have a go. Talk about what they’ve painted or what they are doing. They might just like to cover the whole surface as they notice the colour change. Then, as the surface dries, you can watch the shapes disappear and start again.
Letting your child make shapes like this helps prepare them for writing, drawing and painting as they get older – they begin to understand the connection between their movements and leaving a mark on a surface.
Good to know
Big arm movements build the strength and control children need to write when they get older.
