Early years activity: Big brush outdoor art
This activity invites children to explore painting in a playful and physical way. Using a variety of tools and coloured paints, children can experiment with different movements and techniques, as they dip, swipe, stamp, and splatter, to build coordination, strengthen muscles and express themselves creatively.
Learning aims
- Promotes arm, shoulder, and upper body movement, helping to strengthen muscles and improve coordination
- Support core strength and balance
- Develop hand strength, grip, and fine motor control
- Encourage movement control and support coordination between both sides of the body, helps children practise crossing the midline.
Resources
- Large paintbrushes, rollers, sponges, big brushes, spray bottles, etc.
- Washable paint, poured into trays
- Large paper sheets, cardboard, old bedsheets, paper table clothes etc.
- Clothes that can get messy, such as an old shirt or tshirt.
Big brush outdoor art activity guide
Set up your outdoor space – prepare trays of coloured, washable paint and lay out a wide selection of painting tools. Provide large sheets on different surfaces such as the walls, floor, or tying them up between trees. Using vertical surfaces like walls or fences will encourage reaching and full-body movement.
- Gather the children together and explain that they can explore painting through the range of different tools
- Support children to investigate the paint and the tools, freely exploring the different effects each tool can make
- Encourage them to move around and explore both large and small movements with their whole bodies – this might include painting while standing, kneeling, squatting, or reaching
- Promote experimentation and variety by suggesting that children try swapping tools to see what different effects they can make and trying different surfaces – horizontal and vertical – to use a wider range of muscles
- Enrich the learning with vocabulary by introducing and repeating words such as: swirling, stamping, flicking, stroking, dotting, splashing, sliding, dabbing, up and down, side to side, and around
- Take photographs of the children to celebrate their creations and for reflecting back about the movements they made whilst painting.
How can you extend this big brush outdoor art activity guide
Use water and big brushes on fences or walls for mess-free painting.
Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be risk assessed, including for allergies or choking. Children must always have adequate supervision. Resources and materials must always be appropriate for children’s age and stage of development.
- Activity
- MyNDNA
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