Be inspired by Henri Matisse and put a creative twist on water play.

Encourage creative thinking and problem solving for your child with a unique sensory play activity.  Your young learner will discover how to “draw with scissors” while playing in the water and creating floating works of art.

Water play is a type of sensory play that is an important part to your child’s overall healthy development. Sensory play helps develop your child’s fine motor skills (small muscle control) along with spatial awareness, creative thinking, exploring and discovering how things works, math skills and helps relieve stress for children.

Water play is one of the easiest sensory play activities to set up and if you take it outside it is super easy to clean up!

Henri Matisse is a French artist who is well know for his use of color is especially his paper cutouts he made later in his life.

While sick and forced to remain in bed, Matisse developed a technique of cutting shapes from large painted papers. He referred to this process as “drawing with scissors.” 

Your child can also “draw with scissors” and create a floating work of art!

Materials:

Foam sheets

Scissors

Water Table

Tutorial:

Step 1: Discuss with your child the type of shapes they see in an example of Matisse’s work.

Step 2: Have your child cut out their own free-form organic shapes from the foam sheets.

Step 3: Place shapes in the water and let your child create and play!

Encourage your child’s creative thinking by allowing them to experiment and manipulate the shapes. My three-year old enjoyed overlapping and layering the shapes to create big floating works of art in the water.

Remember there is no wrong way to create or play with the shapes. Sensory play is about the process of creating rather than the final outcome.

Looking for more ways to encourage your Preschooler’s creativity? Be sure to sign up for our Growing Creative Preschooler’s Newsletter and receive our FREE download, How to Unlock Your Child’s Hidden Talents.

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Check out our Creative Preschool Friends for more water play activities.

Fairy Soup | Artsy Momma

Squirt, Squirt Ocean Art | Pink Stripey Socks

Water Balloon Letter Smash| School Time Snippets

Polka Dot Splash   | A Little Pinch of Perfect

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