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You are here: Home / Art / Preschool Fine Motor Art: Colored Waterfalls

Preschool Fine Motor Art: Colored Waterfalls

July 1, 2017 by Sheryl Cooper

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This post might contain affiliate links. CLICK HERE for more information. Thanks for visiting!

This post might contain affiliate links. CLICK HERE for more information. Thanks for visiting!

We love to use our pipettes for preschool fine motor art!

Using pipettes strengthens the pincer grasp, important for future writing skills. In this activity, we set the paper vertically so that the paint could drip down the paper, creating a waterfall effect. It was a huge hit with our preschoolers!

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

 

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

 

What you will need:

  • tempera paint
  • paint cups
  • pipettes
  • paper

There are many different ways you could attach the paper horizontally. We use acrylic sign holders.

 

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

The process:

  • Pour the tempera paint into the containers and thin with a bit of water.
  • Add the pipettes to the containers.
  • Place the acrylic stand(s) on the table.
  • Attach a sheet of paper to each acrylic stand with some sort of clip.

Note: We placed a tray under the acrylic stand and then a paper towel on top of the tray to catch all the drips.

 

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

Each and every time we use pipettes, the children are fascinated how they can suction the paint in and out.

 

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

It takes a bit of practice using the pipettes, but once it’s mastered, the children love it!

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

Working on a vertical surface puts the wrist into an extended position.

 

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

 

Preschool Fine Motor Art

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

What is fun about this activity is how the paint travels down the paper. You can see here why we place paper towel under the acrylic sign holder!

Preschool Fine Motor Art

 

The colors merge as they flow down the paper.

 

Preschool Fine Motor Art

Colorful waterfalls!

Preschool Fine Motor Art

Bonus! Grab your copy of this fun scissor practice packet:

Preschool Scissor practice activities

32 pages total of scissor practice activities in a age appropriate and developmental sequence. For preschool through 1st graders.  For only $2.99 download your PDF digital product now!

Looking for more fine motor ideas?

  • Squeezing Activities to Strengthen Hands
  • 10 Simple Ways to Strengthen Fine Motor Skills
  • Favorite Fine Motor Toys for 3 Year Olds

Preschool Fine Motor Art


 

 

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Filed Under: Art, Fine Motor, preschool, Preschool Fine Motor Tagged With: art, fine motor, preschoolers

About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

Previous Post: « Preschool Fall Lesson Plans
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachel @I Heart Crafty Things

    August 18, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Ahhh, this is so wonderful Sheryl! My daughter loves using those pipettes to transfer water from container to container so she is going to be in love with this! Thank you for another amazing idea! 🙂

    • Sheryl

      August 18, 2014 at 8:59 pm

      You are quite welcome, Rachel! 🙂

  2. Melanie

    August 24, 2014 at 7:31 am

    Sheryl, I work at an American preschool in Thailand. What suggestions do you have for making a vertical surface to do this project? I would love some ideas so that we could do this projects with our 3 and 4 year olds. (I am sure that we don’t have those acrylic stands.) Thanks for any advice!

    • Sheryl

      August 28, 2014 at 4:06 am

      Hi Melanie – I’ve seen them made with cardboard. Cut 2 squares the same side and use strong tape where they connect at the top (creating an upside down “V). I’ve also seen them made with pizza boxes. Hope this helps!

  3. Cindy

    September 6, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    My first year teaching and I need to purchase on the cheap to stock my room with supplies for twelve 3 year olds. Where do I get the pipettes and is this activity done one at a time? Are the other children watching as they wait their turn or do you have a separate activity for them?

    • Sheryl

      September 7, 2014 at 6:51 pm

      Hi Cindy – in the post I list the supplies needed. Click on “pipettes” and it will take you to the source of where they can be purchased. We do this activity during centers time, so children can work at this activity any time during that hour. We had 6 spots available. If all spots were taken, the other children worked in other areas of the room and came over when a spot opened up.

  4. Kelly

    September 13, 2014 at 3:26 am

    I teach a preschool class with children with autism and I love this idea. I am always looking for ways to incorporate fne motor into everything that we do since majority of my students struggle with that area. Also, after I do a painting exercise like the one listed, I tie it in with the spin art painting app on my i pad. I have the children use a stylus to select their desired paint colors to practice their pincer grasp. This is a great idea and I can’t wait to incorporate this in my class!

    • Sheryl

      September 16, 2014 at 6:51 am

      That is a great idea, Kelly!

  5. Carolyn

    September 17, 2014 at 12:46 am

    Love this idea! Thanks for all the creative ideas you give us!

    • Sheryl

      September 18, 2014 at 5:41 am

      Thank you for the positive feedback, Carolyn!

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Welcome! I'm Sheryl Cooper, teacher of 2 and 3 year olds for over 19 years. Read more about me here!

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