Better Parenting
中文Download

Animal Makeover Print Party

Invite your child to style animal pictures with paint prints. Choosing among inflated plastic bags, bundled swabs, flowers, and stamps creates a playful reason to test and switch tools.

  • 3 years
  • Some prep
  • At home
  • About 15 minutes
Focus
Download printable activity (PDF)Opens in a new tab

Developmental benefits

  • Cognitive：Choosing and switching among unusual painting tools to match different outfit ideas gives your child practice adapting an approach when the task changes.
  • Movement：Adjusting the grasp and movement for several printing tools gives your child practice with fine hand control.

Preparation

What You’ll Need

  1. 1

    Washable paint

  2. 2

    paper with animal outlines

  3. 3

    unusual printing tools, such as small inflated plastic bags, stamps, bundled cotton swabs, and small flowers

Step 1

Explore the Makeover Tools

Invite your child to become the animals’ stylist. First explore how each tool looks and feels, then dip it in paint and make a print. Let your child choose freely and become familiar with the different marks.

What to notice

  • Adjusts their grasp when using a different printing tool Fine Motor
  • Presses and stamps with several small tools Cognitive Self-Regulation (Executive Functioning)

Tips

  • Touch and compare the materials, such as the soft bag or the narrow and wide swab bundles.
  • Before demonstrating, let your child press, roll, or tap the tools and discover the marks each motion leaves.
  • When showing one tool, move slowly enough for your child to follow. Introduce another after the first becomes familiar.

Step 2

Design the Animal Outfits

Bring out the animal pages and let your child create. If a print crosses an outline, treat the unexpected mark as part of the design and ask what it could become.

What to notice

  • Uses an unusual tool to create an original animal outfit Creativity
  • Holds a tool like a paintbrush and marks the animal’s clothing Fine Motor

Tips

  • Use an animal feature as inspiration. Small flower prints might decorate Bunny’s long, open ears.
  • If prints extend beyond a dress, build on the idea: “You gave Bunny a huge flower skirt!”
  • Let each work remain your child’s own expression rather than labeling it right or wrong.
  • Try an unexpected surface, such as the back of a tool, and compare the new print.

Step 3

Try a New Tool

If one tool is used repeatedly, say that another animal wants a different pattern and invite your child to switch. When every makeover is complete, talk about the tools, marks, and choices.

What to notice

  • Tries another tool after your suggestion Cognitive Self-Regulation (Executive Functioning)
  • Talks with you about an idea from the painting process Communicating and Speaking

Tips

  • Compare the pattern left by each tool and notice what changes after a switch.
  • Model a short explanation: “I used the bag to print a big flower.”
  • Switching tools is not only decorative; it gives your child experience trying a new method instead of repeating the familiar one.
  • Invite your child to retell one choice from the creative process in their own words.

Better Parenting Content Team · Updated September 11, 2026