Play Time: Paint Baggie

I've been trying to figure out some fun new play time activities to do at home with my 14-month-old son. He seems to be fine just playing with the same toys and reading the same books day in and day out, but I know it's better for him to have varied activities to get his little brain working (and I get bored)! I came up with a few easy, little to no mess ideas to try out.

My little guy had a lot of fun with this activity. It's a great way for kiddos to start learning how to draw shapes and write out letters and numbers. If you use more than one color in the baggie, they will also learn about how mixing two colors (or more) creates new colors (or what looks like dumpster gravy if you mix every color together!).

For lack of a better name, here is my Paint Baggie.

Baby A playing with a paint baggie

Supplies:

Zippered freezer baggie - Baggies meant for the freezer are thicker and better for this.
Paint - I just used some inexpensive poster paint from the craft store. I got the primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) figuring he could play with mixing the colors together.
Tape - I used packing tape. It was easy to get more coverage than you can get with regular tape.

Supplies needed for this activity

The Crazy Easy Instructions:

1. Open the zippered baggie.
2. Pour some paint into the baggie. The amount you need is dependent on the size baggie you are using and how full you want the baggie to be. Play with it to find what works best for you.
3. Carefully seal the zippered baggie (super important!).
4. Tape the baggie to a low window or sliding glass door. The light coming through the glass helps your little one see all the designs they are creating. I ended up having to tape all four sides of the baggie to the window because Baby A was obsessed with trying to rip the baggie off the window. After adding more tape, he played with it correctly for a long time.
5. Let your little one have fun.

 * So far, this baggie has been taped to the window for three days. It's still going strong despite being in the sun a lot of each day and having a kiddo smacking it repeatedly. We'll see how long it lasts.