The best and easiest painting activity you’ll do with your little one. Yes, it’s messy but also a ton of fun. My little one absolutely loved this activity and yours will too!

Here’s what you’ll need to start the fun.

Supplies

(This list contains affiliate links for your convenience).

• Washable Paint
• Sensory bin
• Art Smocks
• Paper (optional)
• Water
• Dish Soap
• Sponge

Set Up

My 3 year old loves painting with her hands so when she asked to do an activity where she could use her hands I just gave in and set up this super simple painting sensory bin.

I pulled out our big sensory bin and smock because I knew this was going to be messy. I also got out all our finger paints and other washable paints and squeezed out several colours into the bin.

She couldn’t wait to get her hands in there to smear it around.

Language Development

Not only was this activity a wonderful chance for sensory play it also provided a great opportunity to help develop language associated with sensory play, such as describing how the paint felt on her hands and the sounds it made when she squished it in the palm of her hands.

Colour Mixing

It also provided a great opportunity to talk about colours! While she was mixing the paint I asked her about the new colours she was creating and had her describe them to me.

More Paint

As the colours blended together, I would add in more paint and different colours. This would be a good time to add paper to the bin to make a print of all the beautiful colours just before they start to turn gray or brown. My little one wasn’t too interested in this part so we just kept on adding more paint.

All Over

The goal of this activity was just to enjoy the sensory fun of having paint on her hands but I also tasked her with trying to cover the entire surface of the bin with paint.

Clean Up

When she finally got bored of painting, I told her the fun was not over! Now it was time to clean up.

I poured a small amount of water and dish soap into the bin. Swirled it around to make bubbles then gave her a sponge and asked her start washing some of the paint off.

Honestly, this part was just as (it not more) fun as covering the bin with paint and it helped cut down on the amount of cleaning up I had to do at the end!

ARE YOU GOING TO TRY A PAINT SENSORY BIN WITH YOUR LITTLE ONE?