A child’s name is very special and this simple watercolor activity turned out to be a fun and colorful way for our students to focus on the letters in their name…
You can also use crayons with watercolor!
To prepare for this activity, I printed each child’s name on a large piece of white paper with hot glue. The table was set up with liquid watercolor, small paint brushes, and the children’s names…
We spent a few minutes talking about our names and then feeling our names on the paper. Then each child was invited to find their own name in the stack of papers and then explore the watercolor painting process on their own…
In my mind, I thought the children would paint around the lines or fill in the white spaces of the paper but most of the children chose to paint directly on their names – almost as if they were tracing their names…
The liquid watercolor tends to roll right off of the hot glue and drip down into the paper leaving the children’s names standing out in the middle of all those beautiful paint colors…
Each child’s name was transformed into a dazzling piece of artwork…
Available on Amazon
Links to Grow On
The value of name recognition in preschool by Teach Preschool
Digging up our names by Teach Preschool
Easy cheesy name puzzle by Toddler Approved
I love this idea! I will definitely be doing this with my preschoolers. Thank you so much 🙂
Fantastic!! Wow…what great idea.
Thank you so much.
Hello Deborah,
I asked you a two questions but you didn´t answered…
I don´t know if that is because my horrible english or that you prefer not to answered such kind of things in your blog.
Just for case that was because of may english I´m triying again…
Which book do you believe is most useful for parents? “Mind in the making”, “brain rules”, “Easy to love but difficult to disciline”?
Is any other that you would recomend rather than the ones I quote?
Thank you for your time.
I hope not bother you with this questions. It´s just that for me your opinion is very important.
Love this idea as well as the recycling/sorting idea from a week or so ago. My preschool classes loved the recycling and asked for it to be kept out the whole week. Where did you find the paint trays?
Hi Cindy,
I get trays from Lakeshore Learning: https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C898%2C055&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1367400252359
Or from United Art and Supply: https://www.unitednow.com/product/13345/creativitray-finger-paint-trays.aspx?item=29199
Lakeshore trays are more durable:)
I’ve love this idea and I’m offering this variation. We have warming trays at school. These are flat surfaced electric trays used to keep food warm. They were popular in the 70’s and are still readily available at thrift shops in our area. A white crayon on white construction paper would make a great image with a wider smoother line. I’m going to try it today. If you would like, I’ll let you know how it goes. Once again, I’m so pleased to be part of your blog community. It’s a great support for my curriculum.
I would love to know how it goes Janet!
I did the warming tray with white crayons yesterday and the children just loved it. They called it the Discovery Painting, and wanted seconds and thirds. Next time I think I’ll have the warming trays set up so they can do both parts for themselves. If you’d like a photo, Deborah, just let me know.
Such a neat idea. Thanks!
This is such a lovely idea! So colourful and inviting!
Thanks for sharing!
xoxo
I like your stuff. I teach preschool too. What are the trays you are using for the watercolor, and where did you get them? Thanks for sharing.
Hi Cindy,
These are actually soap dishes that I bought at a local store in the bath supply section. They are plastic and I love them because they are clear and easy to clean up when we are done!