Finger painting is loved by kids and is nearly a perfect activity. Why? It combines creativity, fine motor, sensory integration, color theory, cause and affect, and imagination. It is playful and fun! Even young toddlers can participate if given the right kind of paint.
I’ll be sharing finger-painting with my kids at work and will give their parents a sample of paint. Since I need a big batch of paint and a super easy recipe, I spent an afternoon playing in the kitchen and created this one from edible ingredients. It is toddler friendly too!
A link to a printable recipe will be at the end of the post.
First mix together 2 packets of knox gelatin into 1 cup of water and set aside.
Then mix together in a sauce pan: 1 cup of cornstarch, 6 cups of water, 2 tbs of flour. Cook it at medium heat and stir contantly until it boils:
Once it boils, cook it until it is somewhat clear and has thickened, then remove from the heat, add the gelatin mixture, and then stir until smooth.
Divide the base mixture into bowls and add your choice of food coloring. I used Wilson gel food coloring. It was mentioned in the comments that to make it washable, you can add a bit of dawn dish washing soap; however, please remember that the paint will no longer be edible if soap is added.
After you add the gelatin and food color it may seem a little runny. Mine seemed very runny.
But after it sits and cools it will thicken. I put it in the refrigerator to speed up the process:
Since this paint needs to be portable for sharing I put it in plastic 2 oz condiment cups. (also known as jello shot cups)
There are no preservatives in the paint. Please store it in the refrigerator.
Whether or not this paint is washable depends on what you use for coloring. I had blue hands for about 24 hours. Don’t be afraid of getting messy: wear old clothes, put a drop cloth on the floor, paint outside. Put out the paint and the paper and let them play! But also enjoy your time with them too.
Have fun painting together!
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trés bonne idée trés chouette !! c’est plus économique !! je vais tester bravo!!
So glad you liked it Cathy.
Oh that paint looks WONDERFUL! So colourful and what a bonus that it is edible!
Thank you for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
Thanks fo hosting Kids Get Crafty, Maggie!
What a great recipe
I would love it if you would add the URL in my comments box on different ways to paint please http://pinkoddy.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/p-for-painting/
That is seriously beautiful paint! I love that it’s edible and it was nice of you to provide a printable recipe.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Joyce. I need a recipe plug-in for printing.
I would love to make some of this for my grandson:)
Thanks for sharing the recipe Deborah. Have fun!
I wonder how Colorations water color paints would work for the coloring? I might give that a try for my preschool students! Thank you for all the great ideas!
I love Colorations water color paints. They are one of my favorites. What I have is liquid water color so if that is what you have decrease the amount of water you use in the recipe. It also would no longer be edible, but with preschoolers that hopefully won’t be a problem. Thanks for your kind words.
I made this and added a little dawn dish soap to the mixture after the after removing it from the heat and it is washable then. One of my daycare kids got a lot on her clothes and it washed right out:)
Wow! What a good tip. Thanks so much for experimenting and sharing the results. I love Dawn and pinterest has taught me new uses for it too. Thanks again.
I love the texture this recipe creates. I’ll have to try out Mindy’s tip to make it washable.
I just made this paint for my son. I am wondering how long it will keep in the refrigerator and if anyone has tried freezing it.
I’ve kept it refrigerated for 5 days. It does not freeze well at all. It becomes watery.
Kristi, thanks for sharing this great recipe! It’s going to go a long way in my clinic – following directions, fine motor, AND handwriting skills when we use it to paint! Can’t wait!
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