Pom Pom Smush Painting

Ages/Grades

Toddler, Preschool

 

Learning Domains

Fine & Gross Motor, Language, Cognitive/Science

 

Materials

• Pom poms

• Construction Paper

• Liquid Watercolors

• Shallow Dishes

• Spoon (optional)

• Mallet or play hammer (optional)

• Music to play while creating

 

Ready, Set, Create!

Cover your work surface with a tablecloth or table paper for easy cleanup.

 

Pour small amounts of liquid watercolors into shallow dishes.

 

Set out pieces of paper around the table.

 

Encourage children to dip a pom pom into liquid watercolors, place on top of their paper lightly, and then use their hand, spoon, or mallet to smush the pom pom.

 

Repeat with a variety of colors and different sized pom poms.

 

 

Engage Children in Conversation

Ask children to try smushing the pom poms lightly and then harder, quickly or slowly, and using their hands or different tools.

What do they observe about how these techniques are the same or different?

 

Extensions

Play music with different tempos and at different volumes while the children create. How does music affect their work?

Turn this project into a color mixing lesson. To do this, only use primary colors of liquid watercolors (red, yellow, and blue) and only two of these colors at a time. Let children experiment and notice what happens when colors mix.

 

Modifications

If children are hesitant to touch the liquid, they can place a clear zippered bag on top of the pom pom so that their hand will touch the bag when pushing down. They can also try placing the paper and pom pom (dipped in liquid watercolor) inside the clear zippered bag for even less mess.

Children may also smush the pom poms with a spoon, mallet, or toy hammer if they are not comfortable using their hands

Vary the sizes of pom poms to support fine motor development or to add a fine motor challenge.