Large Motor Development at the Art Table in the Three’s Classroom

by Tricia Eickelberg
Early Childhood Teacher


The three-year-olds of C-1 recently painted marble pictures using daffodil colors. In order to move the marbles around they needed to tip the box from side to side and back and forth. On another day, they also helped paint our pond by using rollers to spread the paint over the paper. They then used texture tools to make the waves in the water. 


Children generally enjoy active projects like these–they're fun, they're making art–but the overarching goal here is to strengthen muscles in their upper arms. Later, when they begin writing, these stronger muscles will help with both proper pencil grip and with the ability to move the pencil across the paper.