Magic mirror painting

It’s just like magic! This is a super-exciting, and super-easy way to explore symmetry and colour.

With a little bit of paint your child can create amazing and surprising pictures.

It can be a bit messy, so it’s a good idea for your child to wear a smock.

As they paint, children are developing their hand and finger muscles. You can support their language development too by chatting to them about their art.

 What do I need?

• Poster paints
• Paper
• Paint brushes
• Newspaper (if necessary)
• A smock

 How do I do it?

1. Set up your equipment on a table that is easy to clean, or use newspaper to protect it. Place the paper flat on the table.
2. Help your child choose some colours and put big blobs of paint on the paper. Once there are enough blobs of paint, help them to fold the paper in half.
3. You can both use your hands to gently flatten and ‘squish’ the paint colours together.
4. The next part is the exciting part: help your child to carefully open out the paper and take a look at their amazing creation!
5. Talk about what has happened to the paint.
   • How is it the same on both sides of the paper?  (symmetry)
   • How have the colours mixed together?
   • What new colours have been made?
   • What patterns has the paint made? 
   • Does it look like anything real?

No-one knows your child better than you.  So, choose and/or adapt ideas here to best suit you and your child. Remember it’s the talking and time spent together that matters most.