Cotton bud painting (or q-tip painting) makes a change from using normal paint brushes. The delicate nature of this smaller cotton bud paint brush means that it is great fine motor practice too. We decided to use cotton buds to paint some wooden bunnies as a fun and simple spring craft.
For this activity we used 3d wooden bunnies from Baker Ross and paint and cotton buds that we had to hand in the craft cupboard.
A great thing about these wooden bunnies is that they stand upright, so the children are painting on a vertical surface. This is beneficial for fine motor skills due to the positioning of the hand, wrist and fingers (you can read the explanation for that here.) T used to practice a lot of writing on vertical surfaces with his occupational therapist.
With the cotton buds, you can use them to create dotted art, for a pointillism effect, or just use them as a small paint brush with typical brush strokes. I let the boys guide the designs of their own bunnies totally, and although the end result may not be as “professional”, all three of them were very happy and proud of their work. I did offer them extras like pom poms to stick on to add detail but they were all more focused on the painting and preferred to stick to that only. They spent a lot of time concentrating on slowly painting each area.
R spent a lot time painting his whole bunny yellow, to make it into a “gold bunny”, then covered him in brown for chocolate, while the other boys added faces and expressions to theirs.
I love the looks of concentration on their faces!
Q tip painting is always a fun activity to keep children occupied on a rainy day indoors. My boys really enjoyed having a blank canvas like these wooden bunnies to decorate, and displayed them in their room once they were finished.
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Spring Crafts for Kids
- Pop Up Puppets Spring Craft
- Bubble Wrap Blossom Print Painting
- Pot of Gold Rainbow Shaker for Sensory Play
- Handprint Flower Pot Craft for Mothers Day
- Tissue Paper Butterfly Craft
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
I’ve never thought of painting with cotton wool buds – it’s a great idea 🙂 Am going to pi your bunnies too.
#minicreations
Oops! Pin!
I love the control you can get with a cotton bud. I shall be borrowing this tip for some of our farm crafts. #minicreations
Such a simply idea and you’ve reminded me we still need to paint our bunnies here #minicreations
Lucas says – It’s the Easter Bunny!! A rather handsome fellow at that. A great idea for painting. The Mother uses these for putting her makeup on. She might find them gone soon!!!!! he he Thanks for linking to #minicreations