Aquapaints - Painting with Water

Get set for all the fun of painting without the paint and mess! Simply brush water onto the pages to see the colourful images magically appear. You can use them again and again, as the image vanishes when the water dries.

These sets are suitable for people at sensory level, because of the single-step nature of the activity. But they’re also good for exploratory.

Each set comes with five different images that have been carefully chosen to help spark conversation when the painting is complete.

You will need

1. Aquapaint sets
2. Paintbrushes
3. Shallow dish or jar

The Activity

1. Clear a table so it’s free of any clutter
2. Invite everyone to sit at a table if you’re doing this individually or as a group. However, if someone can’t sit at the table, you can bring the activity to them on a tray
3. Put a selection of Aquapaint packs out, so people can have a look and pick the image they’d like to paint
4. Make sure everyone has one
5. Do a little demonstration, painting the water onto the page, to show how the image magically appears
6. Pass around the brushes and water pots. If you’re giving water to someone on a tray, make sure it’s not very full, as you don’t want them to get soaked if it tips over
7. Encourage everyone to do each brushstroke independently and reassure them that it does not matter if they go outside the lines
8. Offer words of praise as the images start to appear
9. Walk around the table and ask each person a few questions about the image to help trigger memories
10. If the person has difficulties with speech, comment on the image positively and ask questions that could elicit a simple yes or no nod
11. Give people time to look at and enjoy their completed image

Top tip

If the person or group is using one particular theme, maybe play some music or sounds in the background to match? For example, you could play songs like “Oh I do like to be beside the seaside” with the At the Seaside Aquapaint. Don’t have the music too loud, though, you want it to complement the activity rather than distract people from it.