EC Methods I
Learning Experience Plan #5
Name: Taylor Lamontagne
Age of children: 4 mo.-16 mo.
Length of activity: Varies depending on length of engagement
Name of activity: Finger Painting in a Bag
Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to develop fine motor skills through expanding on an interest
in painting.
 Painting in a bag is a variation of finger painting that will help the infant's small muscle
development and continue his/her sensory exploration
State and National Standards: NH Early Learning Guidelines:
Physical Development; Small Muscle Development (ELG, 2005)
Background knowledge of Children:
Some infants enjoy finger painting as a way to use their fine motor skills and explore their
sensory environment. Younger infants are usually unable to finger paint, because they tend to put their
fingers in their mouths. Finger painting is an activity that should be closely monitored with infants.
Depending on the age of the infant, edible paint might be a good idea for infants that may consume
some paint.
This activity is directed towards all of our infants. When our oldest infant spends time in the
toddler room, she often finger paints and/or takes part in painting activities. When she finger paints,
she is engaged for small amounts of time and returns to the activity several times. She also tends to
leave paint finger prints around the room. This activity will give her the opportunity to leave and return
to the activity without trailing paint throughout the classroom. Most of them are too young to actually
finger paint, because they will eat the paint. This activity will also give the younger infants the
opportunity to finger paint.
Background knowledge of the Content Area:
There are many areas of physical development. There is large muscle development (gross
motor) and small muscle development (fine motor). These infants are at a variety of developmental
stages. In my center, they follow a Reggio Emilia philosophy that encourages care-givers to not rush
the development of infants. Infants will develop at their own pace when they are ready.
This activity focuses on small muscle development. Manipulation can be seen in this activity as
the infant uses his/her fingers to move the paint in the bag. We have some infants that grasp and hold
dangling objects, and others find play in their own fingers. A.N., our oldest infant, is in the
developmental stage of holding a writing tool and scribbling spontaneously. According to the Pikler
Institute, various objects for play and development is based on observations of manipulative skills that
the infant shows (Mena, 2012, p. 144-147).
Objectives:
 The infant will use his/her hands, tools and/or instruments with skill for a range of purposes
 The infant will continue his/her sensory exploration
Assessment and Documentation Plan:
 Observations of the infant using his/her hands (fine motor skills) finger painting will be
documented through photos
 This activity will be assessed through observations of the infant exploring their sensory
development
Materials needed and Plan for Setting up the Environment: 4 Gallon sized Ziplock bags, finger
paint (any nontoxic washable paint), and tape. These bags with be taped to keep the paint in, then the
bags will be taped to the light table on the floor.
Description of how you will engage children and facilitate the learning opportunities:
 Prior to introducing the activity to the infant, preparations must be made.
 Finger paint will be placed in several blobs in the ziplock bag and the ziplock bag will be sealed
with tape.
 Next the bag will be taped onto our light table. By taping the bag with paint on the light table,
the infants can create designs and see the light through the transparent areas.
 This activity will also be verbally introduced by saying, “We are going to try this different way
of finger painting. Take your finger and move the paint around.”
 A demonstration of this activity will be shown for the infant.
 When ready, other tools will be given to the infants to use. Tools can include shapes to press in
the paint and/or other materials in the classroom.
Child Guidance/Adaptations:
This activity helps children finger paint without actually touching the paint. This might be ideal
for a child that does not like to finger paint due to the actual paint on his/her fingers. This activity gives
children the opportunity to develop their fine motor skills through finger painting that does not actually
involve touching paint. This is also a mess free activity that can be taped to a wall or window for a
child that would to prefer to stand and paint rather than sit at a table.
LEP Reflection:
This activity was intended for the infants in my room, but since the infant room is connected to
the toddler room I also had many toddlers take part. When an infant or toddler was at the light table, I
made sure to explain that this is a different way of finger painting and that we should all take a turn so
our friends can try too. Originally I was expecting to only engage a couple infants in this activity at a
time, but with the toddlers I ended up engaging a larger group. Trying to stay flexible, I made another
bag with paint so more children could take part.
Some infants and toddlers were engaged for longer periods of time than others. It was
interesting to observe the toddlers engage in this activity, because most of them would move the paint
then look at their finger. They would repeat this several times checking to see if there was paint on
their fingers. L.Q. is a toddler that was very interested in this activity and showed me his finger and
said, “No paint?” None of the infants reacted to this activity by looking at their finger, but N.Q. actually
used her pacifier to move the paint around. During this activity I tried to make sure that each child was
given an opportunity and that the infants were in a safe area where they would not be stepped on or
pushed by toddlers. Also, some toddlers were more aggressive with the painting activity and ripped the
bag with the objects they were using to move the paint. This helped me to create my extension for this
activity.
I was slightly hesitant to doing this activity, because I have heard mixed opinions. Online I read
several blogs about this activity where educators said that this is not beneficial to children because it is
depriving them of their tactile sensory input from touching the paint. Although this is true, I decided to
continue with the activity because I believed that there were more benefits to doing this in the infant
room. The majority of the infants in my room are very young and everything they touch goes into their
mouths. Actually finger painting is not an option with these infants, but this activity gives them an
alternative to traditional finger painting. This activity helps to develop their fine motor skills, visual
sensory input and tactile sensory input. Since the infants cannot touch the paint, I decided to tape the
bag onto the light table which helped the infants to see through transparent areas. The light table also
made the paint warmer, which helps their sensory development too. I do understand why some
educators may not like this activity, but I believe this activity was appropriate for my infant classroom.
Abbreviated LEP for Extension:
1. State and National Standards: NH Early Learning Guidelines: Physical Development; Small Muscle
(ELG, 2005)
2. Objectives:
 The infant/toddler will use his/her hands, tools and/or instruments with skill for a range of
purposes
 The infant/toddler will continue his/her sensory exploration
3. Body of the Lesson:
The idea behind this activity is an alternative way to finger paint for infants that will eat the
finger paint, therefore; we want the paint to stay in the bag. Some toddlers used tools such as shapes
with sharp edges that would puncture the bag and cause the paint to come out. For my extension I want
to find tools that the infants and toddlers can use that will not break the bag. Plastic rings from the
classroom would work well because they are round and hard. For toddlers and some infants, tools such
as Qtips could be used to move the paint and create designs. I could also show the toddlers and infants
how to press their hand down in the paint and create their hand print. These are several tools that the
infants and toddlers could use that will hopefully not tear the bag!
4. Materials Needed: Gallon sized ziplock bag, finger paint, tape, additional tools such as plastic rings,
Qtips etc.
Bibliography
Early Learning Guidelines Task Force (2005). New Hampshire Early Learning Guidelines, NH
Department of Health and Human Services: Child Development Bureau.
Mena, J., & Eyer, D.W. (2012). Infants, toddlers, and caregivers: a curriculum of respectful,
responsive, relationship-based, care and education (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.