"That's My Name" Finger Painting

One way to keep a 3 year-old from getting into trouble is to constantly keep him busy. I got this finger painting idea from Pinterest, however when I went back to look for it there were so many pins about it from different people that I do not know who to credit. I started with a canvas and used blue painters tape to spell out my son's name. I only had the thick tape so I had to cut it. I also am not a fan of writing names in all capital letters. I have taught way too many kindergartners who started school so proud that they can write their name and I have to reteach them to only make the first letter a capital. It takes all year. Anyway, here's the canvas with tape on it.

 I squirted red, yellow, green, and blue Crayola finger paint onto the canvas and let him smear it all around. Yesterday I let him finger paint on paper so he could see what it was all about. I didn't want this to be his first experience with it. I had to encourage him to cover all the space. He would be happy just painting the same spot over and over.

 This is what it looked like after he was done. I let it dry for quite a few hours. I love how the colors blended together. He did have a hard time crossing the midline as you can see from the way the colors are blended. We will continue to work on activities that force him to do that.

Then I peeled the tape off. The paint bled a little bit under the tape, but I think it still looks really nice. He can spell his name when he sees the letters, so this was good practice for him. He also knows the sounds, so if I say "The P says", he will say the sound. He can do it without looking at the letters, but it's nice to have the visual. 

My husband and I are currently working on plans to turn our art room into his new bedroom. We are going to put in new floors and paint the walls and set up his big boy bed. This is going to look great in his new room!