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The Empowered Educator

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Sea Sponge Fine Motor Fun!

by The Empowered Educator 22 Comments

Ahh…Spring is in the air…well for us on this side of the world anyway. We have been spending lots of time outside under blue skies…and getting messy of course!

The Weekly Kid's Co-Op had so much outdoor inspiration and fun to explore last week…can't wait to see what everyone shares this week….I'm predicting a lot of fall craft activities as we send our Winter to the other side of the world!

We will be sharing a little sensory fun this week….it was most definitely our favourite activity from the week, and so easy to set up which was even better!

 
When I saw these sea sponges in the dollar shop for next to nothing I knew we would be able to have some fun experimenting with them. They are quite firm so I soaked them in water for 10 minutes beforehand so they didn't soak up too much paint and were a little easier for small hands to hold!
 
stamp-single updated
 
I put out some paint sponge pads and a little brown paper and the toddler twosome got stamping. You might notice they went a little nuts and stamped everywhere…they were loving the patterns they produced though!
 
 
 
 
Those little hand muscles got a great workout and it was interesting to watch the different ways they stamped. They worked out that there needed to be a good amount of pressure when using the paint sponge or the patterns sometimes didn't work out.
 
 
Ruby paused for a little colour mixing with her brush…I think she was getting a little overloaded with the sensory aspect of the sponge so she found a way to take a break (that's why I also provided the brushes).
 
 
She was very intent on making ‘purple' and kept going until she got the colour shade she was after!
 
She then surprised me by turning the sponge around and beginning to roll it…I had planned to show the girls this extension to the activity but they beat me to it!
 
This was an even greater sensory challenge as the wet paint on the coarse surface of the sponge provided quite a new texture to work with for both girls.
 
 
She seemed to enjoy the rolling back and forth motion though and the bubble patterns it made on the paper…
 
There was much discussion about how the sponge felt and why it looked like it did with the paint on it.
 

A multi purpose painting tool for $2…got to love that!

Tara took a different approach and actually began to ‘colour in' all of her circle patterns. It was important not to point out that she was making the pretty patterns disappear as obviously, this was her masterpiece and how she wanted it to look. My opinion of what the art ‘should' look like didn't matter.

She was certainly impressed with her efforts..as was I!

Stamping on large sheets of paper like this always makes lovely wrapping paper…I think we shall keep this one for Christmas paper.
 
The sponges wash easily and after a good dry in the sun they are ready for play another day.If you wanted to make them go further or more age appropriate for younger toddlers I would cut them in half. A little easier to hold and you get more sponges too!
 

Ruby & Tara were 3 yrs & 2 months when they had fun with this activity 

What did you get up to with the children this week?

Find more ideas like this for early learning and network with other early childhood educators from around the world in The Empowered Ed Community

 
 
 
 

Filed Under: kids co-op, outside play, painting, sensory fun, SPD

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Comments

  1. jandi says

    05/09/2013 at 9:46 am

    Hi Jodie, what a fun, simple idea! Will try it with my girls soon!

    Reply
    • Jodie Clarke says

      30/09/2013 at 2:19 am

      Fantastic jandi…I hope they love it! Thanks for stopping by !

      Reply
  2. Boy Mama Teacher Mama says

    30/09/2013 at 3:25 am

    Those girls look like they are having a blast! I will have to try that sometime when I am in the mood for messy! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Eva - The Multitasking Mummy says

    30/09/2013 at 3:27 am

    I really love this idea, the pattern the sponges make is lovely and would even look good on brown paper which could be turned into wrapping paper.

    Reply
  4. Kate Gribble says

    30/09/2013 at 4:09 am

    These are really great Jode. At first I thought they were fruit prints but these are so much nicer. Lots of fun 🙂

    Reply
  5. Jackie(My Little Bookcase) says

    30/09/2013 at 11:27 am

    Great idea. I’ve got so many of those sea sponges around the house. 🙂

    Reply
  6. Happy Whimsical Hearts says

    30/09/2013 at 11:41 am

    What a great idea! You seem to spot such great uses for simple things like this, and thank you for sharing them with us!

    Reply
  7. Rez P says

    30/09/2013 at 12:18 pm

    So many sponge prints. That worked well – great idea

    Reply
  8. Elise Ellerman says

    30/09/2013 at 12:21 pm

    Such a fun and creative experience to enjoy under the postcard blue skies. I agree, these colourful creations would make for gorgeous festive Christmas paper. Elise at Creative Play Central

    Reply
  9. Julie - Ladybugs Spots says

    30/09/2013 at 9:22 pm

    I love how these prints turned out, they seem very ‘Spring’ too!

    Reply
  10. Penny says

    30/09/2013 at 10:31 pm

    How cool are the textures and shapes it created. I never even thought of using one of those. You so think outside the square Jode!

    Reply
  11. Kylie @ Octavia and Vicky says

    01/10/2013 at 4:37 am

    What lovely, messy fun! Your kids are so lucky to have you as a mum x

    Reply
  12. Kate Grono says

    02/10/2013 at 11:32 am

    They make fantastic patterns, I love recycling kids painting in to wrapping paper 🙂

    Reply
  13. Be A Fun Mum says

    03/10/2013 at 5:32 am

    The shapes turned out fabulous!

    Reply
  14. Danya atDanyaBanya says

    03/10/2013 at 11:42 am

    I love the flower shapes that the sponges make! So pretty, so tactile, so inspiring. 🙂

    Reply
  15. [email protected] says

    04/10/2013 at 10:20 am

    What a great idea! Adding to our shopping list and pinning 🙂 xo

    Reply
  16. Deborah Alter-Rasche says

    05/10/2013 at 11:02 pm

    What a fun new painting tool!

    Reply
  17. Kate Lloyd says

    06/10/2013 at 3:27 am

    You have such brilliant ideas. I have already pinned this but will be pinning it again. So much fun.

    Reply
  18. Chelsea says

    08/10/2013 at 2:11 am

    My kids would love this!! Hands on painting is so much fun.

    Reply
  19. Ness @ One Perfect Day says

    08/10/2013 at 10:22 am

    Jodie this is so fantastic. I’m featuring this post on my Tuesday Tots round up with this. Thanks for linking up.

    Reply
  20. Jessica says

    08/05/2019 at 5:33 am

    That’s really cute. I have a bunch of these sponges. They are actually luffa (loofah) sponges which are like a gourd that grows on a vine.

    Reply

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Jodie
Hi, I'm Jode, Mum to twins and a teen, and an early childhood educator.
I love to share ideas & resources for play based learning
Find out more about me here...

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