Homemade Finger Paint

There’s a recipe for homemade finger paints that has been circling ‘round the internet lately.  I’ve seen it on Facebook & Pinterest over and over.  We had Grace for the day, rather last minute, and Keith was working from home that day.  I was looking for some kind of activity to keep the kids busy and relatively quiet.  It seemed like a great day to try the finger paints recipe.

It was very easy to make, and the kids had lots of fun measuring and stirring before I heated it on the stove.  They also loved squeezing in (with help!) the food coloring.  Of course, I cooked it without their assistance.  One batch made five baby food “cups” of finger paint…plenty to keep three kids busy for an hour!

If you’re going to try this, here’s our thoughts on the recipe: We had LOTS of fun, but we found that the paint thickened up REALLY quickly.  If I made it again, I would use less cornstarch.  Once the paint cooled, it was almost a jello consistency – too thick to paint, but still lots of fun to squish in your hands!  I tried storing it for later, but it was like rubber when we opened it the next day.

 

  

If you look at these pictures below, you can see how “gloppy” the paint got.  It was SUPER thick after about 20 minutes. 

 I had concerns about whether it would wash off easily.  I had even more concerns when looking at my counter afterwards.  I breathed a big sigh of relief when it washed off of counters, hands, and clothes very easily. The “Masterpieces”: