Window Art with Foam Shapes and Water
Toddlers and preschoolers who like creating and playing with water will love this fun and easy outdoor art activity. We’re making window art with foam shapes and water. It’s simple to set up, it’s mess free, and it’s a great way to entertain the kids at home on a hot summer day.
Water and windows and foam, oh my! Creating window art with foam shapes is always a hit with the kids in my daycare because it combines two of their favourite activities: art and water play!
I love this activity too because it’s so simple to set up and it’s virtually mess-free. The kids can decorate the windows and create art and detailed scenes and the only clean-up is to wipe the windows dry when they’re done.
Skill development
Although it looks like a really easy activity, there’s lots of learning and skill-development going on here.
Gross motor – stretching, reaching, large arm movement
Fine Motor – manipulating foam pieces
Colour and Shape Recognition
Thinking, planning and creating their pictures.
To make window art with foam shapes you’ll need:
Ok! Let’s create some window art! Hand out the brushes, and let the kids “paint” away!
They can brush their water directly onto the window or on to their craft shapes. Then they’ll press their shape against the glass window or sliding glass door, and voila!
Instant art!
The foam adheres very well to the window. All of our shapes stayed on the window, and we were playing for about an hour on this day.
You can create your art on a window or a mirror, or you could do what we’re doing, and use a sliding glass door. Our patio door makes the perfect canvas for group of little ones to gather around.
The hooligans had a great time brushing the window with water, and arranging and re-arranging their foam shapes. The built a zoo, and they paired baby animals up with their mothers.
Depending on your foam shapes, you could also play around with patterning, or your child could group shapes, sizes and colours. You could use foam letters or numbers to work on early literacy and math skills or… you could simply play, which is exactly what we were doing here.
One little hooligan discovered that the wet foam pieces stuck together! Cool! That made for some fun layering!
What a great outdoor art activity for a warm day!
Another way to play with foam shapes and water is in the bathtub! They stick to the tiles like magic! Your kids will love decorating the the sides of the tub and the walls as they’re playing in the bath!
Know of another way to create with foam shapes? I’d love to hear it!
More fun window & mirror activities for kids:
tissue paper art on a window
painting with shaving cream on a patio door
painting clouds on a mirror
Dry Erase Hangman on a Patio Door
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
