S started painting with fingerpaints at around 12 months old. I knew I wanted to try starting X earlier - just to see what he'd do with it. I nosed around online at edible safe baby paints and they were all so expensive! So I thought I'd try making my own. Surprisingly, it was very easy, and actually quite pretty as well!
For the green paint:
A handful of spinach
About 1/2 cup of dry baby cereal
Just enough almond milk to thin it out (you could use water if you're not sure of baby allergies, but the almond milk gave it a pretty shine)
For the purple paint:
5 blueberries
About 1/2 cup of dry baby cereal
Just enough almond milk to thin it out
I had to show him how to dip his fingers in. Here he's around 9 months old.
He really is fascinated by paper, so it worked well - he would explore the paper with a painted hand and kind of paint!
He got a little messy....
....but then sister wanted to paint him and he got VERY messy.
He really was interested in exploring the paper and the containers more than the paint, but I think he did have fun - and his sister had a blast painting with him!
I think I'll keep trying him with the paint every couple of weeks until it "clicks" for him. But it definitely hadn't by 9 months! A fun experiment, nonetheless!
Just a quick update to say that we've also had success with making pink paint (2-3 small pieces of cooked beet with the baby cereal and almond milk); orange paint (2-3 chunks of cooked carrots or cooked sweet potato with the baby cereal and almond milk), and yellow paint (5-6 chunks of cooked butternut squash with the baby cereal and almond milk)!
We also have recipes for Edible Scented Fingerpaints and Shaving Cream Paints!
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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.
Hi, can you tell me what you mean by 'dry baby cereal'? Do you mean baby rice, or baby porridge or baby wheat flakes? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen! Any of those would work. We used a cereal that was a mix of several different grains, but depending on your baby's age/allergies, it could be any of the rice/oatmeal/wheat cereals. Hope that helps!
DeleteHow do you prepare the paints? Do you puree or cook the ingredients?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous! I had cooked the carrots, sweet potato, beets, and squash ahead of time. For the spinach and blueberries - we just do raw. Yep - toss it all in a blender and blend on high until everything is really well mixed. :)
Deletedoes it stay well to keep the art project? Also with it being milk does it go sour or smell?
ReplyDeleteGreat question! To my knowledge, no homemade paint will last quite as long or well as store bought paint (especially in cases where the homemade paint is edible). We kept ours for a week and it did not smell funny - but I didn't try keeping it longer because I assume it would at some point.
DeleteAfter reading some of these questions about keeping edible paint paintings from your children, I'd think that the old way of "pressing" leaves between two sheets of waxed paper with a warm iron may work just as well with this artwork. Once it's dry and then sealed, I'd think it would keep.
DeleteOooh, I really like that idea! I agree - sealing may prevent the moisture/mold issue. Great idea!!!
DeleteCould this be used for my little one to "paint" a pumpkins? Would it dry to it?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question! I don't know for sure, but I can't think of an edible paint (mine or otherwise) that would provide a nice vibrant finish on a pumpkin like a storebought paint would. A reader shared a great idea on our Facebook page today - she is helping her 5 month old paint a pumpkin with storebought paint and his feet. Maybe that would work best?
DeleteYour baby is sooo cute! Amazing job! I am really inspired to try this with my kids. Love your site, keep up the good work, it is incredibly inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Hard to believe he's almost 2 now - he was so little here! Thank you so much!!! :) :) :)
DeleteIf you added a bit of glue to the mix instead of milk, that might make it adhere to a pumpkin. We also took a shortcut and used a whole food organic baby food pouch for the colors. Baby gets to paint and then have a snack when done painting!
ReplyDeleteI used dragonfruit to make purple colour and it stands out very beautiful...
ReplyDeleteOooooh! I love that idea!!!
Deletecan i copy this link and feature it on my blog?tq so much
ReplyDeleteIt depends on how you plan to "feature" it, but probably! You can read all about my copyright rules here (it's about halfway down the page): http://www.funathomewithkids.com/p/disclaimer.html
DeleteLet me know if any of it doesn't make sense! :)