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.