I became very impressed with the hand-eye-coordination my daughter displayed. She mixed and swirled the paint. She used a spoon to transfer paint from the bowl to her paper. She used a sponge brush to make painted lines. My daughter even made clean cookie cutter shapes.
Creative activities, like painting, help her brain develop. The right side of her brain is used for emotional and creative responses, while the left side of her brain focuses on analytical processes and logic. Painting benefits my daughter by using both sides of her brain. By stimulating the creative side of her brain, painting helps make the connection between the two sides, which is how we reach our full potential.

Then it happened! Self-expression became so much messier! My daughter realized that the paint felt cool on her skin. She began innocently painting her hands and splashing her legs. As she began giggling and happily splashing, she stops... looks at the sponge brush... looks at me... back at the brush and I knew what was going to happen next was going to be drastic...
My 16-month-old daughter began painting her hair. While saying, "brush...brush...mommy brush". Oh yes she brushed her entire head. I allowed this to continue until the paint began running toward her eyes. She was stripped where she stood and directly in the sink she went. After changing the water twice and finding paint in all crevices my green tinted toddler was cleaned.
I do not know why I am so surprised at how this toddler led painting session turned out the way it did. I mean honestly! What would you do with paint if you were one?