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Eye Dropper Activity Tray

Posted on August 26, 2014 10 Comments

Eye droppers are fabulous tools for kids. They work the small muscles in their hands, which they need to develop for writing, plus you can do so many fun things with them!

My ten year old helped me set up a surprise for her little brother and together we created this fun eye dropper activity tray.

Eye Dropper Activity Tray - fine motor, art and science rolled into one fab activity!

My big girl remembered doing three super fun eye dropper activities when she was smaller, so we decided to use our big cutlery tray to set up all three activities in one!

We got out our big plastic cutlery tray (we got ours from Ikea and it has been fab for all kinds of sensory play and art) and we added the following materials:

  • a container of vinegar
  • four containers of food colouring mixed with a little water
  • an eye dropper for each container
  • paper serviettes/napkins (you could use any very absorbent paper)
  • some bicarb soda
  • a small plastic tray with sections (you could use an ice cube tray)

Eye Dropper Activity Tray - fine motor, art and science rolled into one fab activity!

Noah’s eyes just about popped out of his head when he saw the tray full of things to explore and experiment with. He started with something simple… dropping coloured water into the sectioned container.

It didn’t take him long to get the hang of the eye droppers and to discover that you could mix the colours together to make new colours!

Eye Dropper Activity Tray - fine motor, art and science rolled into one fab activity!

Then he moved on to making a bit of art with his newly mixed colours.

Dropper painting is a great activity to do all on it’s own, but it’s even more fun when you get to mix your own colours first. Watching the way the colour moves as the paper sucks up all the moisture is just magic.

The cutlery tray is a perfect container for dropper painting as it catches any wayward drips, just be sure to have lots of space to let these creations dry as there are sure to be lots of them and they take a while to dry.

Eye Dropper Activity Tray - fine motor, art and science rolled into one fab activity!

“But why has this one got no colour” Noah asked his sister once he was done making dropper paintings.

“Because it has magic in it!” Zoe told him.

She showed him how to mix a little of the ‘magic water’ aka vinegar with some coloured water and then dripped a few drops onto the bicarb. Instant frothing bubbles!

Soon Noah was busy mixing vinegar and colours and making his own bubbly bicarb explosions.

Eye Dropper Activity Tray - fine motor, art and science rolled into one fab activity!

The simple items and ingredients in our eye dropper activity tray really capture the imagination and lead to so much exploring and experimenting.

Noah and Zoe had a lovely time mixing colours, making dropper paintings, and creating bubbling poison and lava together.

It was lovely to see my big girl (who is almost 11) enjoying this activity as much as her brother and sharing her knowledge and memories of the things she did and learned when she was his age.

Eye Dropper Activity Tray - fine motor, art and science rolled into one fab activity!

Have you ever played with eye droppers?

 

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Filed Under: Activities for kids, Preschooler Fun, Toddler Fun Tagged With: activities for children, activities for preschoolers, art for kids, fine motor activities, science fun, sensory play

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  1. Kate Lloyd says

    I purchased some of these eye droppers a little while ago but still haven’t used them! Thanks for the great ideas and all in the one set up. Like you say, great fun for all ages. :)

    Reply
  2. becky says

    Where do you find the eye droppers?

    Reply
    • katepickle says

      Are you in Australia?
      We got ours at Riot Art and Craft, but these ones from Learning $ Kids look great and they deliver Australia wide (and are a blogging friend!)

      http://www.learning4kids.net/product/eye-droppers-pack-6/

      Reply
  3. Bianca says

    Thank you so much for this!
    I have been looking for a new activity to help my 7 yr old with his hand muscles and fine motor skills.
    He is a little behind and needs to strengthen his hand.
    I’m sure he will love to teach his younger brother how to make pictures.
    Off to the learning4kids site.
    Thanks again

    Reply
  4. Hope says

    I’ve been looking for a fun craft activity that will engage the science minded 7 year old whilst also look fun to the 18month old. Looks like I just found it. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • B galetka says

      we did an activity last year in prek using coffee filters and green and blue water, to make the earth they turned out so good and made earth day a blast

      Reply
  5. Laurel Galvin says

    We get our eye droppers from Discount School School Supply

    Reply
  6. Donna says

    I LOVE your blog – your printables and activities are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing them with the rest of us.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Experimenting with Things that Smell. - picklebums.com says:
    October 21, 2014 at 2:39 pm

    […] he means experimenting, like when we played with some eye droppers and coloured water a while […]

    Reply
  2. Crazy DIY Geoboard - picklebums.com says:
    October 28, 2014 at 11:12 pm

    […] more fun fine motor activities such as our Eye Dropper Activity Tray and Chalkboard and Loose Parts  play here, or check out my Fine Motor Play board on […]

    Reply

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