When you’re upset that your brother is going on a school trip with a mud slide, you dry your eyes and have a paint slide.

Resources

  • Slide
  • Paint
  • Paint rollers

Method

Finn is the king of messy play. He loves getting mucky. From an early age he’s enjoyed painting himself, as these pictures of him aged one show.

We squirted paint at the top of the slide and Finn worked his messy magic!

He liked seeing the different patterns the rollers made, both on the slide and himself.

“I was all colourful like a beautiful butterfly, but now I’m all brown like a wiggly worm.”

Meanwhile, Ioan has always hated getting dirty and was upset about the idea of going on a mud slide. At the age of one, he got distressed if he got any paint on his hands and would have a meltdown if I attempted messy play. On today’s school trip, he opted out of toasting marshmallows incase he got his hands sticky. He was horrified to get home and see these pictures of Finn!

Expressive arts and design

ELG 16 – Exploring and using media and materials:

Children safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

ELG 17 – Being imaginative:

Children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.