- 20 - 30 mins
- Patterning, colour recognition, colour mixing, hand eye coordination
- Messy
Painting with cars is a simple activity, yet so effective and so much fun! Its an interactive way of engaging children in the creative arts and focuses on the process of creation, not the end product. Process art provides free exploration with the resources in front you, using experimentation, and play as the main tool for learning. As your child rolls the car though paint and then zoom’s it across the paper, they may notice that different cars make different tracks; they may notice paint mixing together forming secondary colours; they may notice that the more paint on the car the darker the colour may be. Your child will engage in trial and error concepts and learn a whole range of skills without knowing they are learning.
What you will need
- Paint (multiple colours)
- Paper or cardboard
- Bucket with water and detergent for clean up!
- Cars or trucks (anything with wheels)
- Trays (meat trays work well)
Activity steps
- Set yourself up at a large working space, I like to do this one outside because my kids like to get right in there with paint!
- Find a flat space for your paper and anchor it down with some weights so it wont fly away. We used some cardboard we had lying around.
- Put some paint on the trays or alternatively squeeze some paint drops on your paint surface. Now you’re ready to start your engines!
- Ask your child to pick a car and roll it through the desired paint colour. Then let them zoom it across the paper and watch the tracks it leaves behind.
- Take opportunities to draw your child’s attention to the tracks. Are they the same or are they different?
Alternatives
- You might like to set some cardboard up on an angle like a ramp and then let the cars roll down on different angles
- Try other objects such as balls. What patterns do they make?
Learning Outcomes
- Pattern exploration
- Colour recognition
- Colour mixing
- Experimentation
- Cause & effect principles
- Hand-eye coordination
- Creative expression
Reference sites
We would like to acknowledge these amazing sites that have inspired us to create this activity. Thank you!