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Painting with Yarn and Watercolors

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March 27, 2017 by Sarah Punkoney, MAT

Toddlers and paint sometimes don’t mix…. Well, that is not the case with yarn painting!   This is a process art activity for toddlers that is sure to be colorful and fun, as well as provide lots and lots of focus on the process!

When I watch my preschoolers paint, I rarely see a method.  You know, the gentle strokes of intertwining color that tell an imaginative narrative.  Instead, I see smudging, dropping, crinkling, wiping, blobbing, smearing, squeezing, and pushing, just to name a few.  And everything I see is exactly what I want to see!  Because it is all about the process of making art.

Preschoolers and toddlers use process art as a means to tell a story. Just listen to what they say as they work:

“See my apple tree? It’s big and has big red apples on it!”

You may look at your toddler’s painting and see nothing that resembles an apple tree or even a hint of red. But that’s not what matters. To your toddler, she is making an apple tree with big red apples on it (even if the apples are actually purple rather than the red she says they are).

And that’s just fine.

The power of process art is that it allows toddlers the freedom to use materials for the simple act of exploring and experimenting.  That’s what makes “Painting with Yarn and Watercolors” such a great process art activity for toddlers.  Even though every student in my preschool class began with the same materials, the results were very, very different.  Their differences were astoundingly beautiful because of the exploration of the materials and techniques that took place.

And every exploration is valid, as are the stories they told while they painted.  One of my preschoolers particularly made me smile.  She asked, “Why are we doing this? What holiday?” When I told her it was for “just because”, she then said, “Oh, well, then I’m going to make a gumball machine.”

More about the benefits of Process Art

Preschool Art Activities
3 Ways to Write Art Lesson Plans for Preschool
Shared Art – A Process for Preschoolers

Yarn Painting Process Art Activity for Toddlers

Just a few basic materials will get your toddler or preschooler creating frame-worthy abstract art:

Materials

  • liquid watercolors (Colorations is my absolute favorite).
  • watercolor paper
  • rainbow colored craft sticks that coordinate with the colors of liquid watercolor you are using
  • white cotton yarn
  • hot glue and a glue gun
  • paint pallet (But I really prefer using small baby food jars for liquid watercolor).

The Set-Up

It will only take a few minutes to do the little bit of prep work before your kiddos can begin painting.  Follow the steps below to make the “paintbrushes” with the yarn and colored craft sticks:

  1. Cut six pieces of yarn to about 10-12 inches each.
  2. Put a dab of hot glue in the center of the craft stick and wrap the yarn around the glue (about five times). The yarn will hang from the stick about six inches.
  3. Wrap each baby food jar in color coordinated paper. (This step is optional but really helpful. Often, the color of liquid watercolors is so saturated it is difficult to see which color is which).
  4. Fill each baby food jar with about 1/4 inch of the corresponding color liquid watercolor.
  5. Place corresponding color “paintbrushes” in each jar. (The craft stick should be placed over the top of the opening, not dipped inside the jar. The yarn will dangle in the jar).
  6. Set out a sheet of watercolor paper and invite your preschooler or toddler to come and paint!

Painting with Yarn

Invite your preschooler to use the craft sticks and yarn to paint! Notice how the color of the craft stick coordinates with the color of watercolor. This helps the preschoolers remember from which jar they got their craft stick and it helps keep the colors from becoming contaminated with others.

The technique of painting with the yarn varied among the children.  Below are listed examples of different preschooler’s perspectives of the materials provided with some fun pictures!  As you can see, the result was a variety of different shapes, circles, swirls, spirals, and loops.

One student wanted very specific designs.  He carefully laid the yarn as he pleased and then tapped to push it down a bit, ensuring that the whole piece of yarn made a print.

Another student shook the craft sticks and made a splatter-paint, Jackson Pollock effect.  Another dragged the yarn across his paper to make a series of straight lines that bled into one another when the wet paint overlapped.

Other students tried a little of everything. My toddler would lay the yarn on his paper and then pull both ends at once, creating a skipping effect.

As the preschoolers worked, they told stories about what they were creating. And those stories changed as their pictures progressed. One student had butterflies that turned into puppies that turned into tornados, while another student painted a fire truck and fire that then became a rocket ship with flames.

The end result was amazing, and each piece so very different.

 You can see how some children were very deliberate in their painting while others played a lot with various techniques.

More Process Art Activities:

Big Scribbling – Simple Art for Toddlers
Decorated Tree Branch
Oil and Water Droplet Painting

**FULL DISCLOSURE** a process art activity for toddlers can be messy.  Just take a deep breath, use washable paint, and you’ll be fine.  Your toddler or preschooler will appreciate the fact that you didn’t hold them back!  And honestly, so will you, when you see what they are capable of creating when they are free to use their own process.

 

 

Sarah Punkoney, MAT

I am Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home mama of five! I am the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught range of levels, including preschool and college, and a little bit of just about everything in between. Right now, my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction

stayathomeeducator.com/

You might also enjoy:

easy one ingredient sidewalk chalk paint recipeOne Ingredient Sidewalk Paint Recipe Make Stamped Dinosaur Art with Preschoolers and Toddlers A Fun winter process art for preschoolers. This activity will help strengthen fine motor skills, creativity and show how each child is different.Fine Motor Winter Process Art for Preschoolers A beautiful winter process art for toddlers project that you will love to keep forever. An art project that also strengthens fine motor skills & colors.Frame Worthy Winter Process Art for Toddlers

Filed Under: Process Art Tagged With: process art, process art for toddlers

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Comments

  1. Mary says

    July 13, 2012 at 8:32 am

    I’ve been meaning to string paint for some time. My kids love alternative ways to paint and this one seems like so much fun! Thanks for linking up to TGIF Linky Party!

  2. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    July 16, 2012 at 7:02 am

    I did this ages ago – thanks for the reminder to do it with the kids again, it’s perfect for summer when we can paint outside!

  3. Shiloh says

    July 16, 2012 at 11:56 am

    What a great idea! I love that it sounds like he had more of a narrative with the yarn than when he just makes a picture.:) So fun.

  4. Charlotte says

    July 19, 2012 at 2:34 am

    Looks like a lot of fun – especially love that last picture! One of our favourites is using toy animals or cars to make tracks and footprints – my son loves making up simple stories to paint along with!

    Thanks for stopping by The Sunday Showcase – hope to see you there again this week!

    Charlotte
    makedoandfriend.com

  5. Charlene says

    July 23, 2012 at 10:16 am

    So much fun…thanks for sharing on Hey Mom, Look What I Did at Adventures In Mommy Land!! hope to see you again soon

    btw, I am featuring your craft this week 🙂

  6. Katrina says

    July 4, 2019 at 1:02 pm

    Sarah, do you know what kind of table they are using? I need a small one with space to create like this one! Thanks, I love your site and content. 🙂

    • Sarah Punkoney, MAT says

      July 21, 2019 at 7:15 am

      I have this table: https://amzn.to/2O9T71B

      But if you’re looking for something a little smaller this one looks good: https://amzn.to/2O60VBl

  7. Rachel says

    March 21, 2020 at 10:44 am

    Can you use arylic yarn? Or only cotton? Just wondering. I have I think everything else on hand. 🙂

    • Sarah Punkoney, MAT says

      April 1, 2020 at 4:15 pm

      You can use anything you have on hand. I think acrylic yarn might be a little more difficult to cut because it is “slick”, but it will work just as well.

  8. Jurrien Collins says

    July 7, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    We use watercolor paper too, but would any other paper work? I think thicker paper such as poster board, or cardstock would work better than thinner paper.

    • Sarah Punkoney, MAT says

      July 16, 2020 at 12:07 pm

      Yes, for sure!

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