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As the last day of school rapidly approaches, it can often feel like you’re running out of ideas for keeping students on task and motivated. If you’re looking for a fun way to keep your students engaged during the last week of school, I have the perfect activity! These free summer dot painting pages are a great addition to your end-of-the-year lesson plans!
Dot painting is just what it sounds like: Students fill in small circles on a page with paint, one dot at a time. I like to use cotton swabs dipped in paint because they’re inexpensive and perfect for little hands!
If you’d prefer not to use paint, the tip of a broad Crayola marker is also a nice size for filling in the small circles on each picture. You could also give students small dot stickers to cover each circle. You might even decide to turn it into a paper craft using tissue paper squares dipped in white school glue using a pencil eraser.
No matter how you choose to have students complete these dot painting pages, there are many benefits to using activity in your classroom:
– Fine Motor Practice: First and foremost, dot painting is a great way for students to practice their fine motor skills. As students use the cotton swab to transfer paint from the plate to the paper, they are improving their pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination.
– Number Identification: Each circle on the painting page is numbered, and students will fill them in according to a key. This is great number identification practice!
– Color Identification: In addition to the numbers, students will practice their color identification skills as they navigate the coloring key for this activity. Each number corresponds to a specific color word that students can read as they work.
– Hands-On Activity: There is a lot of energy brewing in a kindergarten classroom at the end of the school year! This hands-on activity allows students to channel some of that excitement into a worthwhile activity.
The best part of this painting activity is that you really don’t need very many materials:
Once students have access to the paint and cotton swabs, they’re ready to get started! I always suggest to students that they focus on finding and painting one number at a time. This way, they don’t have to worry about switching colors over and over again.
There are many different ways that you can include dot painting activities in your end-of-the-year lesson plans! Here are just a few ideas:
This activity can be a fun way to welcome your students to school near the end of the year. You might not want to start the day with painting, but students could use markers or dot stickers instead. This is a great activity to help students ease into a day of learning. It also gives them a chance to take a deep breath with a creative activity before getting ready for the school day.
The end of the school year is full of schedule interruptions and unexpected pockets of extra time! Whether it’s an assembly that ends early or a school-wide activity that gets cancelled, it’s not uncommon to find yourself with awkward amounts of time to fill. An activity like dot painting can be a fun way to handle some of these unexpected schedule changes.
As the weather heats up and energy levels rise, it can be helpful to have a calming activity on hand for your students. A dot painting page can be a great activity option when your students just need a few minutes to cool down. You can turn off the overhead lights, turn on some lamps (if needed), and choose some quiet music for students to listen to as they quietly paint. You could even find a relaxing beach scene video on YouTube to set the stage for your summer painting activity!
Are you planning an end-of-the-year party for your class? A dot painting activity can be a great addition to your party rotations. Students absolutely love to paint, so these pages are perfect for an end-of-the-year celebration in your classroom! You could have students rotate through a variety of different activity stations, with dot painting being one of the options.
Finally, dot painting pages can be a great addition to a summer review packet! Even if students don’t have paint and cotton swabs on hand at home, they can use markers or crayons to color each of the circles. These can be fun activities that will help students keep their skills sharp over summer break!
Would you like to try these summer dot painting pages in your classroom? I’ve put together a freebie with four different summer-themed pictures that students can color with paint and cotton swabs. Just fill out the form below and I’ll send a set straight to your inbox!
Be sure to save this post so you can find it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite Pinterest board of teaching ideas. You’ll be able to quickly find these dot painting pages when you’re looking for a low-prep activity for the end of the school year!
If you’re looking for even more free activities to use in your classroom at the end of the school year, be sure to check out my free coloring pages! I have created a set of coloring pages for the first and last day of school.
It’s an easy memento from the kindergarten school year, especially when students can compare their coloring on the last day of school to how they colored on the first day of school.
These alphabet books will have students dive deep into learning about each letter of the alphabet while eager to see what activity they get to complete next!
