This month, the toddlers at RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Patrick showed a growing interest in painting activities. To extend their learning, educators set up a sensory-rich painting experience. On a round tuff tray, bowls of brightly coloured paints; yellow, blue, orange, pink, and green were placed alongside silicone puzzle shapes and other vibrant materials. These open-ended materials encouraged creativity and self-expression, allowing each child to explore in their own unique way. Lily was the first to show interest, dipping her brush into the paint and spreading it across the paper. She experimented with the silicone puzzle shapes and Squigz handles, stamping them into the paint and onto the paper. Her curiosity grew as she transitioned from using brushes to puzzle shapes and then to painting with her hands, creating colourful handprints. This hands-on exploration supported Lily’s sensory development and strengthened her fine motor skills as she gripped, pressed, and manipulated the materials. Augustus and Brantley explored the experience with great focus, dipping their green and blue square shapes into the paint and stamping them repeatedly on the paper. Their engagement reflected an early understanding of cause and effect as they noticed how pressing harder or softer created different patterns and prints. Sebastian was drawn to the activity as he dipped a brown star shape into the paint, observing the marks it made and enjoying the visual contrast between the bright colours and the white paper. Dante and Emmie were particularly engaged by the sensory aspect of the experience. They explored with both brushes and their hands, feeling the paint’s texture. Emmie showed great curiosity and creativity as she experimented with new techniques, switching from the brush bristles to the handle to create different effects. Zoey enjoyed hand painting, dipping her hands into the paint and pressing them onto the paper. Her excitement and smiles showed her joy in exploring the textures and colours while expressing herself freely. Robbie focused intently as he dipped his brush into different colours and painted across the paper. He proudly pointed and named the colours “green” and “red” demonstrating his growing colour recognition and language development. Clementine used the paint tools to mix colours together, saying “blue” and “orange,” which supported her expressive language and deepened her understanding of colour concepts. Throughout these activities, the toddlers demonstrated curiosity, creativity, and confidence as they engaged with the materials. They named colours, shared tools, and interacted socially, strengthening their expressive language.