Baby's first exposure to fine art - finger paints

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

For more than forty years ago, the founder of Sony, Ibuka Matsura, a truly versatile person, created a fund to promote early childhood development. Companions of the insightful Japanese proved that the brain of a child under the age of three is able to absorb such a huge amount of information that an adult could not even dream of. So repeated scientific studies were conducted on activities with babies that were previously considered too difficult for them. It was learning to play the violin, roller skating and so on. The results were simply stunning: children effortlessly mastered complex, new skills.

One of the most important areas of early development is creativity. Such activities include: modeling, playing with sand or grains, sorting out small objects and, of course, drawing with finger paints. Yes, a small child is not yet able to hold a brush correctly, but this is not required, and parents simply owe him the opportunity to createprovide. At a minimum, this will give a lot of positive emotions, and in a global sense it will be a good helper in the development of the baby's fine motor skills and, as a result, his speech.

Outwardly, finger paints resemble gouache, but only their composition is significantly different, since they are intended for use by kids. Their chemical formula does not contain substances that are dangerous if accidentally swallowed, they are easily washed from clothes and washed from almost any surface. Quality paints usually use food coloring. These properties, knowing the love of little children to put everything in their mouths, are very important.

Finger paints - at what age to start?

You can start at the age of about six months, there is no younger age limit, although manufacturers usually write on the packaging that paints are intended for children aged two or three years, but such inscriptions rarely stop enthusiastic mothers. Of course, despite the neutrality of their chemical composition, you should not allow the child to eat them in large quantities, however, he is unlikely to do this, since their taste leaves much to be desired. This is also done intentionally so that the baby loses food interest in them as quickly as possible.

Many mothers conduct such drawing classes with children up to a year old, and many like it. So that this event does not spoil the mood of the mother, the child should be dressed in a special apron for drawing or put on those clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. Baby is not neededleave alone with the paints, and, of course, you should think about the workplace so that its cleaning does not take much time.

There is no upper age limit either: these classes will be interesting for a child at 3, and at 5, and even at 10 years old, only he will draw in a completely different way.

How to draw with finger paints

There are many ideas for using such paints, and the fantasy of mom or dad can throw up a bunch of options. But, of course, do not forget about the age of the child, because the younger he is, the more simple tasks he should be given. For toddlers who are not even a year old, finger paints will be a new toy, and traces in the form of emerging multi-colored dots, a palm print or a heel will delight him.

Older children can be offered:

• draw in coloring books or special ones adapted for finger paints;
• drawing with a sponge;
• use stencils, complicating the drawing as the child grows;
• paint the bathroom tile wall;
• use a brush.

Some mothers, despite all assurances about the safety of paints, do not trust their manufacturers or are unable to purchase them. This is also not a problem - paints can be made independently. There are a lot of simple recipes for making them at home.