Winter Bear Art for Toddlers Using Bubble Wrap

Last Updated on December 21, 2021 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Winter Bear Art for Toddlers – roll paint onto bubble wrap to make these fun bears while also strengthening fine motor skills!

One of my favorite art tools for toddlers is the brayer.

It’s the perfect size for small hands to hold.

The entire arm and should are moving while the brayer is rolled back and forth.

And, it’s just plain fun!

Combine the brayer and bubble wrap, and you have a real winner.

We’ve used this method with our toddles while making snowmen and rainbows, too!

Winter Bear Art for Toddlers

What we used:

Bear printable (Scroll towards end of post to grab your link.)

Brayer

Brown washable tempera paint

Bubble wrap

Before starting this activity:

Cut bubble wrap approximately 8.5 x 11 or a bit larger. You just want to make sure it covers the bear printable.

Place bubble wrap on a tray, bubble size up.

Squeeze some brown paint on top of the bubble wrap.

Inviting your toddlers to paint:

Show them how to roll the brayer back and forth across the bubble wrap, spreading the paint.

They might even roll right off the bubble wrap, and that’s why we use trays.

They might want to push and pull the brayer for quite awhile, and that’s okay.

Think of all the exercise their shoulders, arms, and hands are getting!

When they announce that they are done (or when they simply jump out of their chair, ready to move on … because that’s what toddlers like to do), hand them the bear printable.

Tell them that they are going to make their bear turn brown!

Show your toddlers how to pat the paper. If a few of them are doing this at the same time, they will pat even harder, delighted by the sounds they are hearing.

You can also show them how to rub the paper, but chances are they’d rather pat it. You know, because of the noise.

Tell them they are going to pick up the paper. Help them take hold of one corner and then let them pull the paper off.

Look! A brown bear!

I will warn you that they might want to start rolling the brayer again. If you have extra copies of the bear printable, they can make more brown bear prints. If not, just take a plain sheet of paper and let them press it onto the bubble wrap when they are finished rolling the paint.