Outside Water Painting for Kids

Painting with water is a classic outdoor play and fine motor activity for all ages of children! We tried this activity when our kids were just starting to hold brushes and they still love it so we are revisiting it again!

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When our oldest was only one, we encouraged her to paint with water. This is a simple and classic activity that never gets old! Three years later here our youngest at the same age investigating the invitation to paint with water outside.

Redoing these activities is guaranteed to highlight the similarities and difference between the kids. He took a lot longer to swirl, splash, and play in the water using the brush first as a tool rather than a writing implement. Pictures also show us how the grasps develop with age.

It is also very fun to see what our preschooler now does with the invitation versus what she did as a toddler! Our toddler's engagement and activity changes depending what she models. I love that aspect of multi-age level play. Here she was writing sentences.

Both kids ended up painting their feet as toddlers! Who could resist? They loved the sensory exploration involved and interestingly they were both using their left hands!

They tried out different size brushes to see if they felt the same on his skin. What a calming, soothing exercise.

I love this image of them meeting their brushes in together to touch!

Have your children painted outside with water? It's a mess free and easy to set up play idea that keeps them busy!

Ideas to keep the activity new and challenging for all ages:

- Spell your child's name in chalk and let him/her trace it with the water brushes!
- Draw circles, squares, and triangles for your child to color in.
- Write letters or numbers and have the kids trace them in order.