String Painting

Activity Overview
Using a pincer grasp and gaining control over the fine muscles in fingers and hands are essential skills for future activities such as writing, zipping up a jacket, cooking, and many other things. This activity focuses on good fine motor work, through the enjoyable experience of creative expression. As this one can be messy (which we fully endorse), you may want to place a work tray or a piece of cardboard under the paper.

What You Need

• Watercolors (If you don’t have one already, we highly recommend buying a set of liquid watercolor paints, as it can be used to color water, rice, playdough and all sorts of things)

• Watercolor paper (also worth having on hand, as it is thicker and thy paint won’t soak through)

• Two or more small jars

• Craft cord, string, kitchen twine, yarn, or cloth ribbon

Steps

1. Add watercolors to the jars. If you are using dry watercolors, add some from your palette into a jar and add enough water to fill the jar most of the way.

2. Cut a piece of string to 6-9”and put one end into the jar. Let the paint soak in for one minute.

3. Set the paper on a flat surface and demonstrate to the student how to pinch the string and move it around

4. Let the student explore and express themselves artistically!

Guiding Questions

• Can you move your hand fast? Slow? How does that affect your artwork?

• Can you make dots? Long lines? Big curves?

• What are you working on?

• At the end of artistic explorations, take a moment to ask the student about their work. If they have a strong ide and want to keep a record, write what they say – word for word – on the back of their work (as some children do not like to put their names on the front of their work, and this preserves the artistic integrity of their creation)

Extensions

• Add more colors

• Use bigger paper

• Can the student create artwork with a piece of string in both hands?

• Use different sized strings and different materials – with the student, notice the similarities and differences between the pieces of art.