Dilly-Dali Art: No Mess Color Mixing. We used paint and contact paper to make a mess free color mixing activity Just squeeze some paint onto the sticky side of a sheet of contact paper (I used tempera but I bet finger paint would create a nice translucent look) Place another sheet of contact paper over the paint I found that mixing the colors was a lot easier with less air between the sheets Putting the paint on the contact paper different ways affected the mixing too In my opinion we saw the best mixing with two parallel lines of color This is a great activity for seeing how primary colors mix to make secondary colors plus it leaves little tracks when you use fingertips for drawing then you can just use the palm of your hand to "erase" the tracks and start all over again and best of all and another bonus since the paint is trapped in the contact paper it doesn't dry.
The Artful Child: The Art of Painting 1- Black Light Paintings. I first saw this idea on the Play at Home Mom blog and had to try it!
For this activity you will need a black light and washable neon paints. If you are a gardener, like me this is a great way to get some extra use out of your plant lights. I just replaced the fluorescent plant light bulbs with black light bulbs and asked my husband to hang it in the girls bathroom. CLEAN-UP TIP : We do most of our painting in the bathroom. That way when we are done, they can get right into the bath and play while I clean up. This is a great idea! Dilly-Dali Art: Art and Play: The Nature Way {Trees} I'm calling this activity Project: Rainbow Tree It's winter still, The trees are bare.
We felt the need to brighten them up a bit and hopefully put a smile on someone's face. We soaked sidewalk chalk in water for a few hours, went on a walk through a wooded area near where we live, picked out the cutest little tree and started coloring and coloring and coloring some more. Then, when we finished coloring, we painted the chalk with water to swirl the colors around a bit By the time we were done, we had one beautiful tree that stood out among the others.
Heavy Work Activities. Heavy work activities (i.e., proprioceptive input) are used for children with sensory processing difficulties to help increase attention, decrease defensiveness, and modulate arousal.
Proprioceptive input is the performance of tasks that involves heavy resistance and input to the muscles and joints, and is essential in helping our bodies assimilate and process both movement (vestibular) and touch (tactile) information. Use of hands for squeezing, pinching, or "fidgeting" This resistive input obtained through heavy work activities is generally organizing and can improve attention, arousal level, body awareness and muscle tone, as well as decreasing defensiveness.
Proprioception is a form of sensory input to the muscles and joints which makes us aware of our "position in space" (i.e., where we are in relation to other objects or people). Children who have difficulty interpreting proprioceptive input have trouble grading and planning their movements and regulating their level of arousal.