30 Days to Hands on Play: Mega Floor Doodles

Day 7 of the Hands on Play challenge was Mega Floor Doodles.  I am blessed with a tiled entry way which is perfect for sliding in socks or drawing on the floor (on paper of course).  Forgetting I had some old bulletin board butcher paper floating around from my preschool teaching days, I improvised.  I pulled out my tin foil,  cut two large pieces, taped it to the tile, and placed permanent markers around for us doodle.

My daughter loves to draw so she dove right into the project, drawing each member of our family, including the dogs and cats.

Michael is the opposite.  He made a small scribble, had me help write his name (I held his hand, writing it "with" him), and said he was done.  

I drew Bob from Monsters vs Aliens

Since Michael was done doodling, it was time to torture his sister...

and spin on an office chair...

Finally he became interested again when I traced my hand.  But just to be different, Michael asked to have his foot traced.

Michael's foot

Then he wanted to trace his hand on top of my hand.  He said, "it looks like we're clapping."

Ariel traced her hand and foot, coloring both in using pink.  

Michael decided doodling wasn't so boring after all, so he drew a "cash register."  I think he said something about it being for our hands.

It was nice, pulling ourselves away from the T.V. to do something creative together.  It was simple and I know, we spent much longer then 15 minutes playing together.

    

STEAM Remote Control Art

*This post contains affiliate links

After reading about "drawbots" on Irresistible Ideas for Playbased Learning I was inspired to create something of my own.  My son has several remote control vehicles and after applying the right amount of tape and markers, we created our own RC "drawbots". This is a fantastic STEAM activity for preschoolers, especially if you have several vehicles or wind-up toys to use for this art experiment.

Our first prototype was a fire engine with 4 markers taped in various places around the truck. Make sure whatever vehicle you use, the tips of the markers are lightly touching the paper.  This is likely through bit of trial and error.  

The remote was very simple for this vehicle; it was specifically designed for a preschooler.  The truck went forwards and in circles creating a modern masterpiece!  We used a large pad of newsprint paper which was given to us.  Opening the paper pad created a larger creative space. Of course the most difficult part is keeping the vehicle on the paper.  

Our 2nd prototype was a non-RC train. It's the type of vehicle you pull backwards and let go in order for it to move.  It didn't travel very far and was a dud.

Our third prototype was an RC spaceship.  The drawback with this vehicle was as soon as you turn it on, it moved forwards.  You have to be quick on the remote or the spaceship leaves the drawing space.  It was too difficult to control in this situation.  

The winner of our STEAM drawing project was the firetruck!  Easy for a preschooler to use and it was fun to draw multicolored circles.  If you wish to try this at home, I suggest large pieces of paper or cardboard.  A roll of paper would work as well.  My driveway was very colorful afterward, but I figure, that's what rain is for!     

Materials:

1. Remote control vehicles
2. Markers (scented would be fun!)
3. Large Pad of Newsprint or Easel Paper Roll
4. Tape

I hope you and your child enjoy this STEAM project.  Let me know how it goes  Find a creative RC unit to experiment with?  Share your pictures on my Messy Kids FB page!