String Painting Activity {Guest Post}

Happy Friday! My friend, Sharla, is an awesome blogging friend and is over here guest posting today. I was blessed to get to know Sharla a year and a half ago at a blogging conference. She is an amazing homeschooling mom to 7 children (5 of them are adopted!). She writes about their homeschool adventures, busy bags, sensory activities, adoption, and more! Thank you, Sharla, for sharing here today!

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Angela is a dear friend and I am so excited that her family has just welcomed sweet baby Lincoln! I am really excited to be able to come on over to Teaching Mama today. I am honoured that Angela asked me to share an activity with her readers.

This craft is designed to encourage exploration and creativity for kids. As with many of our projects, I had it planned out one way but my kids discovered another way to do it that worked even better!

Materials needed:

• paint
• different types of string
• paper
• clothespins

I began by putting paint on paper plates. I provided each of the kids with a piece of paper, a clothespin and a piece of twine, thin sewing string and yarn. My plan was to have the kids pick up a piece of string with the clothespin (so that their hands don’t get as dirty), dip it into the paint and use the string to paint on paper.

This method worked in theory and they enjoyed seeing how the different types of string created unique looks. The twine was especially interesting. But…it was slow.

…until one of my daughters decided to try a little experiment! She poured each paint colour onto her paper and then using her clothespin, dragged each of the strings through the paint. This method allowed the same opportunity for discovery with the different types of string but got colour onto the paper much faster and provided a nicer looking finished product.

Using the clothespins to hold the string did a good job of keeping the kids’ hands clean. Just to be on the safe side, I used washable paint!

This was an easy art project that allowed for a lot of creative exploration. My kids enjoyed it and as always, I learned at least as much as they did! Children make the best teachers!

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Sharla Kostelyk is the mother of 7. You can find her blogging about sensory play, kids crafts, easy family recipes, special needs parenting, and homeschooling at The Chaos and The Clutter.