When it’s too cold to go outside, it’s time to get creative inside. Our craft project of the day was to make DIY Finger Paint. One of my goals is to finally make some of the many kid-safe recipes I have found on Pinterest. There are recipes for nearly everything that you buy at the store, except you can make them for a lot less with ingredients you already have in your home. Often times, it’s also less toxic than what is available at the store.
DIY Finger Paint can be made with just 4 ingredients, plus some food coloring. I had a box of unopened food coloring that I have avoided using in our baking. Using it to decorate paint is a perfect way to use it up. The project is actually two steps: 1) Making the paint 2)Finger Paint time. I made the finger paint with Madison’s help while the little guy took his nap. By late afternoon the paint was cool enough to use and they could get nice and messy playing with the paint.
The messiness level is pretty high on this one so beware. The food coloring stains the hands, but it did wash out fine in the bath. The color will be a lot better on white paper, I used paper bags instead to test it out. The paper is really durable and my kids don’t really care about the “picture” they are making. They just want to swirl it around and make “rainbows.”
Ingredients
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups water
1/4 cup clear liquid dish soap
food coloring
Instructions
Add sugar and cornstarch to a small sauce pan. Blend together, then add water. Cook on medium heat until the mixture turns into a gel-like substance.
Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and stir in the liquid soap.
Divide the mixture into separate containers that you can add the food coloring too. I would use about 8-10 drops for small containers. Glass baby food jars are great for this. We used larger jars to create the colors, then I transferred smaller amounts to an egg carton to use at the kid’s easel. If you have any leftovers, cover tightly to use later.
Do you have a favorite DIY craft project or recipe to share?
I’m sharing this over at The Tuesday Baby Link Up.
What a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing with the Tuesday Baby Link Up community! I plan to feature this post in next week’s link up! (And to make it between now and then, too!)
This is so cool! My little guy just asked about finger painting the other day and this looks like something he’d really enjoy. Thanks for sharing!
What a fun project! I really want to start cruising pinterest for more craft ideas now that my toddler is getting old enough. Thanks for linking up with the Tuesday Baby Link Up! I hope you’ll join us again this week!