Last Updated on July 5, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: This toddler no mess painting activity is all about the process. Little hands press plastic wrap on top of paint for a fun sensory experience!
If you’re looking for a no mess activity for the art table, this is one of our favorites!
Toddlers love pressing down on the plastic wrap, moving the paint around.
Even though hands are not directly touching paint, this is still a delightful sensory experience.
As the plastic wrap touches the paint, the hands can still feel the movement of the paint even though they aren’t directly touching it.
A fun process art activity that can also work on color recognition skills!
Toddler No Mess Painting Activity with Plastic Wrap
What you will need:
- Paper
- Tempera paint (we used four different colors)
- Plastic Wrap
- Tray
- Masking Tape
Setting up this toddler no mess activity:
Place a piece of paper on a tray.
Squirt dollops of paint on top of the paper. (These do not have to be very large.)
Lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of the paint and then tape it to a tray.
Now the activity is ready to go! You can create as many of these trays as desired (depending on how many children will be participating).
No Mess Painting
Invite your toddler to press on top of the plastic wrap.
If they’ve never done this before, show them how to gently push on the wrap to move the paint around.
If your toddlers are like mine they might at first lift their hand, expecting to find paint on it.
What a surprise when the hand is clean!
As your toddlers are moving the paint around, encourage them to use their fingers and also the palms of their hands.
Such a fun way to work on fine motor skills!
What happens when the colors overlap?
When finished, remove the tape and plastic wrap, letting the paint dry.
More color ideas to go with this activity:
Art: Rainbow Collage
Fine Motor: Rainbow Suncatcher
Sensory Table: Color Sorting Water Bin
A Note About “No Mess” Activities
Please know that even though I enjoy providing these “no mess” art activities, I am by no means “anti-mess”.
I definitely provide lots of opportunities to get the hands in there, feeling the paint, moving it around.
However, I often have some students who are very touch sensitive and do not like the feeling of paint on their hands. While I gently help them through this (providing, for example, a damp cloth that they can wipe their fingers any time during the activity), I also like to provide activities where they can explore without the worry of touching paint.
Also, activities such as these still provide a sensory experience because they can feel the slippery plastic as their fingers slide around.
If you are opposed to the “no-mess” part of this activity, simply do not use the plastic wrap. Let the fingers touch the paint!
And please DO make sure to provide lots of hands-on opportunities for your children where they can feel the different materials that are being used, paint included.
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Haha – you make me laugh Sheryl! I bet they loved squeezing out their own paint. I have done lots of projects where I break out into a sweat too! Too funny. This is an idea I will use every year:)
I see in one of your photos in the background there is a bottle of watercolor paints, did you use these as well or just used these bottles with the tempra paint in it instead of the liquid watercolors?
That was an empty watercolor bottle that I refilled with tempera paint. Always recycling! 🙂
Hi I’m a childminder from England and look forward to your fb links daily! All your ideas and activities are so inspirational! I love this idea but before I begin just need to check – do I leave the wax paper stuck together to dry or pull apart? Xxx
My kids actually wanted to rip off the wax paper and get their hands into it….i was surprised because usually they want to run to the sink after fingerpainting….oh well it was worth a try and maybe i’ll try it again soon. Thanks for this fun activity….i enjoyed not having a huge mess haha.
You have the best ideas on your blog… My kids are going to love this. Thanks for sharing.