Thursday, August 12, 2010

Painting the Body Beautiful

We were given a huge piece of crisp white paper last week. I was very excited because I've been looking at prices of butcher's paper and large rolls of white paper and they're not cheap. (Remember getting the freebie rolls off the ends of the newpaper runs?) Together Miss M and I decided that the paper would be fantastic for tracing and painting bodies on. This turned out to be super fun but also a very messy activity! (Don't let this put you off doing it!)

First, we stuck the paper to the floor using Blue tac.

Then I traced around the girls bodies. This was the tricky part as they had to keep super still. I traced them one at a time and Miss M went first so Miss H could see what she had to do.

We had bowls of red, blue and yellow Cel mix paint and the girls painted in between the lines. You could also use acrylic or water paints.

Once the bodies were finished we let them dry on the outside painting line. The girls had so much fun painting that the paint was too thick, so it took some time before the masterpieces could come back inside again.

For the last step, I cut around the bodies and hung them up so we could admire just how marvellous they looked. Ta da...

" Moo + Boo" - part of our girl's nicknames

It was straight into a bubble bath once the activity was over. Miss H had paint all over her but thankfully it came off after some serious bath fun!

I remember doing this same activity when Miss M was little. It's a great one for letting kids see just how big they've grown and also to know how special they are. I love my girls!

You could extend this activity by ....

  • collaging on the body shape.
  • drawing on the body shape.
  • reading about the body - DK 'Big Book or the Human Body' is a great one!
  • doing this activity again, tracing the body in many different poses.
  • adding life sized clothes.
  • letting your child trace you - go on, give it a go!
  • singing the 'Hokey Pokey' or 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'.
  • giving the body a face.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

they turned out lovely**

Busy Brissy Mum said...

Thank you : )

Unknown said...

We've traced bodies outside using chalk and then drawn the faces and clothes. But that's such a great idea to hang them on the wall - they look great!

Let the Children Play said...

Freaky - we did the exact same thing at preschool last friday! I was going to post about it next week. Only I never got around to cutting ours out - wish I had - yours look great.

Busy Brissy Mum said...

I feel like we've been following each other round a little bit these past two weeks Jenny. He he! Every blog I turn up to, you've been there leaving your comments...now we're doing the same activities. What's next? : ) Guess we've both got good taste in picking blogs!! He he!! Think the girls and I did our body paintings on Friday last week too. I didn't finish cutting them out until this week so there's still hope for yours yet!

@ Deb - love the idea of doing the same thing on the ground. Wish we could do it here. I don't trust the bull ants : (

joyce:waddleeahchaa.com said...

Thanks for stopping by waddleeahchaa. I have seen all kinds of fun art activities with body tracing but this is a new one and I really like it. We will be trying this shortly. :)

Christie - Childhood 101 said...

Great minds think alike :) I seriously had yet to see yours when we made ours on the weekend!

Busy Brissy Mum said...

I laughed when I saw yours Christie because Jenny (Let the Children Play) also mentioned that she had made some with her kids too. He he he!!! The world is a happier place for having more cute little painted people all over the walls.

Cathy @ NurtureStore said...

Hello! Thanks for stopping by NurtureStore and for your comment - it's great to meet you :) I just love how your people turned out - they look so lively and vibrant (just like the kids!). I wondered if you might come and share this with our Play Academy linky?

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