Edible Finger Paint Recipe

I’m going a bit out of my ordinary style of posts here, and sharing some kid related content – rest assured, these type of posts will be only occasional. Ash is now 20 months (18 months when this photo was taken) and my efforts at coming up with fun things to do are often directed by my desire to keep harsh chemicals to a minimum, mostly because he likes to put things in his mouth.

One of these adventures involved my making a batch of edible finger paint, which got smeared around a roll of butchers paper (as well as his face and the table), tada, Art. Thank goodness it was easy to wash off and it didn’t bother me that some of it was ingested. This recipe is made from items you can find in your pantry, and is quick  (and kind of fun!) to make. Even though it’s ‘edible’ it’s not actually a food, so I would try to discourage kiddo from eating it, but not being concerned if he gets it in his mouth or does actually swallow some.

I’ve shared my recipe below. Let me know how you go, or even better share your piccies!

Ingredients

4 tablespoons of corn flour

a splash of cold water

1 1/2 cup of boiling water

Liquid food colouring

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, mix the cornflour with enough cold water to make a paste.
2. Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and stir thoroughly so there are no lumps.
3. Turn the stove on to medium heat, and keep stirring. Soon you will see the colour start to change, and some sections may become thicker. Turn the heat off but keep stirring, and eventually it thicken.
4. You may want to add some more water if it is too thick, up to an extra 1/2 cup. Keep stirring well while you do this.
5. Spoon equal amounts into empty containers and add food colouring. I chose shades of blue and green (because the red was missing!) Aqua is 2 drops of green, 4 of blue. Lime Green is 3 yellow, 1 green. I did a straight blue, green and yellow (however the yellow wasn’t that visible on the paper). Mix until completely combined.
6. You can keep it in the fridge for about 2 weeks, covered with a lid or gladwrap. I suggest using it up sooner if your kiddie has a tendency to put it in their mouth.

 

Tips:

If the mixture has harden from being in the fridge, adding a little bit of boiling hot water or sitting in a warm spot will soften it again.

Use a few layers of paper on top of the table or put some plastic in between, as the paint will soften the paper and it may tear, particularly if bub is rough.

Have some wipes or a wet cloth handy so they don’t then take off and smear hands everywhere (speaking from experience here).