Finger Paint DIY

I do at home daycare and always love finding new projects and fun things to do with the kids. I have a recipe for finger paints using just basic stuff that everyone has in their cupboards. Not to mention recycling baby food jars. The whole process took a couple hours to make, but in the end was completely worth it.

I figured this wasn't something that i would want to have a small batch of so i quadrupled the recipe and ended up with 20 small baby food jars full. I used Wilton food coloring for the color just because that was what i had on hand and they always give me a nice vivid color. 

I can't stress enough how this is a time-consuming project. Between the cooking process to cooling and coloring when you make this large of a batch. Obviously if you follow the recipe you will have a smaller batch to work with.

 I first put all the ingredients in the pot and turned the heat on low.I slowly worked up to medium heat just because I didn't want to have anything burn our boil too fast. This did take longer doing it this way, but I feel like it was more worth it in the end. I would keep checking on it while it was heating up and stirring often. I would say about every 2-3 minutes. I truly felt like it was never going to get thick and i just wasted all this stuff when it finally thickened up. So if you feel like its taking too long, just be patient and it will happen. Just keep stirring with your whisk and wait. Once it thickened up take it off the stove immediately to cool. To me the end product had a consistency that reminded me of pudding. The color is almost like Vaseline.... not really cute. Lol. 

After letting the mixture cool completely i divided it into the baby food jars. Don't be like me and fill it to the top..... It will make it quite difficult to mix in the colors. They always say hindsight is 50/50. There really isn't a super easy way to put it in the jar due to the consistency. Just do your best. I just used a spoon and spooned it in. Now the part that will be relatively easy, adding color. I suggest using a small spoon or even a baby spoon to mix the color in each jar. The size of the spoon will help mix the color thoroughly. 

Now the part that makes all the hard work worth it, letting the kids get messy! I just used one of those paint pallets you can get at the craft store for a dollar, to scoop paint into for the kids to play. I think it makes it easier for little hands and also prevents your paints from getting mixed. The color transfer is really good and clean up is really easy. I loved doing this for the kids. Also gives them a huge array of colors. This would also make good birthday party favors for the kids. If you need help with the sticky glue that's on the baby food jars, just use some acetone nail polish remover to get the glue off. Hope you enjoy this fun project!

Recipe....

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 cups water

Food coloring 

Small containers

Directions:

Add all ingredients into small saucepan. Place pan on low heat for 5 minutes stirring often. Use whisk to mix all ingredients. Raise to medium heat and continue to whisk until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Separate into containers and add desired food coloring, mixing completely and enjoy!