Why is Finger Painting important for babies and toddlers ? #blogchatterA2Z

I love to paint and explore different mediums of colour. I have used water colour, fabric colour , poster colour and oil paints on canvas. Painting gives expression to my thoughts.

I want my son to learn painting too.I started doing a lot of painting activities with T when he was a baby. Finger painting is our favourite activity.

Young children love messy play. This gives them  opportunity to use their hands and finger freely to create whatever they want. There are a lot of sensory experiences going on during this time which are very important for your little one to experience.

You do not have to create a big fancy painting set up for your child. All you need is a sheet of paper and some paints. You can start finger painting with babies who are as young as 9-10 months old. These days the paints which are available in the market are also non toxic. even if they put their fingers in their mouth, it won't harm them

Benefits of Finger Painting :

• Stimulates your child's senses :

When kids or babies do finger paintng, it stimulates their all their senses, i.e sense of sight -they see beautiful paints of different colours, sense of touch - they can touch the paints and feel the texture, smell - kids can smell the paint and can tell whether it smells nice or yucky! sense of taste - these days you get edible paints which if kids  put in their mouth is not harmful.

• Excellent for fine motor skills :

Babies and toddlers do not have a proper grip in their fingers to hold a pencil. Finger painting is a wonderful way to improve their fine motor skills because the kids move their fingers to paint which improves their fine motor skills.It strengthens their fingers and hand muscles. It is also easy for little babies to to paint with their fingers as their fingers are not yet ready to hold the brush.

• Helps child's Intellectual Development :

While painting, a child uses a variety of colours, so it is helpful in colour recognition. It is pure joy to see when they mix two colours to form a third colour. It is like magic for a child.

• Improves Creativity :

Finger Painting give kids a platform to show their creativity. They use colours and use their imagination to paint with their fingers. They can imagine extensively and make beautiful paintings.

• Hand eye co-ordination:

One of the most essential benefit of finger painting is that it promotes hand eye co-ordination and control.

• Spatial Awareness :

It helps to create spatial awareness and muscle control, if the painting is done on the floor.

• Communication and social skills :

Develops communication skills when finger painting is done as a group activity. The child gets to talk and interact with his peers. Also, it promotes social skills, like sharing pots, working together as a team.

•  Calms the child:

Studies have proved that painting is a relaxing, therapeutic way to express feelings.

• A lot of fun :

Finger painting is messy which means it is a lot of fun and the kids love it. 

Have you ever tried Finger Painting with your child ?