There was lots of experimenting in this activity as we hadn’t done it before and eventually we got it right! I’d seen Salad Spinning Painting on Irresistable Ideas for Play-based Learning and was pretty sure it would be a hit with my little ones. We used the butterfly templates we got from the Materials Bank (50p for about 50) and a salad spinner from Argos for £4.99. The idea is to drop paint onto the templates and then give it a good spin to create some fantastic effects, easy …. or not. I watered the paint down so it would run more easily and the children used pipettes to blob it onto their templates.
Then we gave it a good spin …….
Our first attempt was a bit disappointing.
So we thought we needed to use a bit more paint.
Okay so better than the first attempt.
We carried on experimenting and eventually found the more paint the better! And blobbing different coloured paint on top of each other created even better effects.
Meanwhile the children were giving their arm muscles a good work out with all the spinning.
The 30+ butterflies they created suggested to me that they really enjoyed this activity!
We even experimented with swirling the butterflies around in the paint that had spilled into the tray and created some interesting effects.
This is one activity we will definitely do again!
Links to EYFS:
3+ years
PSED: Dispositions and Attitudes – where children are keen to join in / ask for help if needed / remain focused on the activity.
PSED: Making Relationships – where children are taking turns and sharing.
CLL: Language for Communication – when children understand and follow instructions.
CLL: Language for Thinking – when children talk about the activity / try to predict what will happen when they spin the salad spinner.
CLL: Handwriting – where children are able to operate the salad spinner.
CLL: Using Equipment and Materials – where children can operate the salad spinner or show good control in using the pippette to place paint on the butterfly.
