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Make · Wild and Tumble activity

Blow-painted trees

Blow, and watch the branches grow! Use a straw to blow paint into a wild tree.

  • 15 min total
  • Some mess
  • Ages 3–5*
  • Indoors
  • Any season
Let's do this

*Illustrative age guidance. Your child's development and circumstances matter more than a number.

A tiny plan for your day

Estimated time: 3 min to prepare · 10 min to blow · 2 min to tidy. It's fine to stop early.

Before you start

What you’ll need

  • Paper
  • Runny brown or black paint, watered down
  • A paper straw
  • Fingertips or cotton buds for leaves

Let's begin

Five simple steps

That's the whole activity. Tick each step off as you go, and stop whenever you like.

  1. Grown-up job

    An adult drips a blob of runny paint at the bottom of the paper.

  2. Little one leads

    Your child blows through the straw to push the paint upwards.

  3. Watch it spread into a trunk and branches.

  4. Add leaves or blossom with fingertip dots.

  5. What season is your tree in?

All done!

That's every step. However it went, you made a little moment together.

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