It was time to cook dinner and I needed an activity for my three year old and an adult friend I had over. Fingerpaints, I thought! It was something I’d been wanting to do but hadn’t had the time to explore fully. I pulled out the easel paper, a thin waterproof drop cloth that I keep on hand for messy occasions (I think I picked it up at the dollar store or a local drugstore. It was cheap but seemed like it might come in handy some day), and the paints.
In addition to the paints, I decided to add in some multi-media materials to make it interesting.
I brought out the following:
A set of paint brushes
A bag of cotton balls
Q-tips
Colored pom-poms
Marshmallows (an Inspiration Laboraties idea, I believe)
Leaves and evergreen branches from outside
Off we went! I’m not sure if I even got to dinner given that the painting project was so much fun, but I’m guessing I did. My daughter LOVED this activity and was engaged and happy for a good 30 minutes, as I recall. We stopped when the paper was pretty much lacking in space.
I used the lid to the paint box as a palette.
She had a fun time stamping with the marshmallows and then sticking them in the paint. The marshmallows, the cotton balls and the pom-poms all served as both something to paint with as well as part of the finished product.
It was an awesome project and the full painting is hanging on the dining room wall for all to see. Since that day, “Momma, I wanna paint!” has been heard pretty frequently as well.
Full picture hanging on the cork board.
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Thank you for your post. My son has been asking to finger paint, but I have been reluctant due to his many severe allergies, and the possibliity of ingesting allergens either by mouth or through skin contact. I did some searching, and found Colorations® Washable Finger Paints, 16 oz. – Set of 10 Item # CWFPS from Discount School Supply online. It claims the product does not contain latex, dairy, casein, egg, gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, or soy. I placed an order, and he will be painting soon. He will be so excited! Next on my to do list, hypoallergenic play dough.
You are quite welcome! Have fun with your project!
Sheryl – I found a recipe for homemade finger paints and added the picture here and to my FB page. Hopefully that will help you with your allergen-free art projects! Let me know if it works!
Thank you for the recipe for finger paints. I will definitely try it in the future. For now, I have the hypoallergenic finger paints I purchased from Discount School Supply. We used them one time so far, and my son really enjoyed it. Me, not as much, because in the blink of an eye everything, including my son, was covered with paint. But yes, it is washable.
I love this project! I love doing stuff like this with the kids, it’s memories that you create that are worth more than a Van Gogh (though I’d love to pawn a Van Gogh!)
Thank you! 😀
You’re welcome! We really did have a fun time doing it. Set up was easy, clean up was easy, it was a good sensory activity and my daughter loved it!