There is nothing like a fun activity with the children to brighten up a dull day! Last week-end, we made gluten-free finger paint for Jumpy to play with, and we all had a great time.
I had made it with the big ones before, and adapted it slightly to make it thicker and easier for little hands to play with, as Jumpy is only 14 months old.
It is easy to clean, washes off clothes easily, takes about five minutes to make, uses ingredients I had in my cupboard, and is gluten-free, which was essential for us as Jumpy is allergic to wheat, reacting to touch. It is also edible, and I have to say Jumpy spent the whole time feasting on it rather than painting, but that was stress-free paint-licking! I would not eat it myself, but there you go…
Crevette (5 years 4 months) and Beanie (3 years 2 months) also loved putting the ingredients together, adding food colouring and seeing the white paste become a vibrant pink, red, orange, blue or yellow. They really enjoyed using their fingers and getting messy as well. Needless to say, everyone needed a bath afterwards!
To make gluten-free finger paint, you will need:
½ cup (70g) corn flour
4 heaped tablespoons (80 g) sugar
2 cups (480 ml) cold water
Food colouring
Using a wooden spatula, mix the corn flour, sugar and water in a medium pan and heat, stirring, until the mixture bubbles a bit and thickens. It should take just under five minutes. Let it cool down, then divide it into five or six bowls. Add as much or as little food colouring as you want, and mix well. It should be quite thick and perfect for little hands to play with.
Give the paint to your budding artists (mine each had their little containers with their own paints to avoid unnecessary arguments), A3 paper or card and let them be creative!
Edible (Gluten Free) Finger Paint
Ingredients
- ½ cup corn flour (70g)
- 4 heaped tablespoons sugar (80 g)
- 2 cups cold water (480 ml)
- Food colouring
Instructions
- Mix the corn flour, sugar and water in a medium pan and heat, stirring, until the mixture bubbles and thickens.
- Let it cool down, then divide it into five or six bowls.
- Add food colouring as desired, and mix well.
- It should be quite thick and lovely for little hands to play with.
Have you made finger paint before?
I haven’t made this recipe for ages! We had a lot of fun the last time we did, I must do it again soon 🙂 #LetKidsBeKids
Author
Hi Sara,
Same here, there are so many activities I used to do that get forgotten about. I find that blogs are a great way of reminding us of simple activities we can do with our children.
Mel
That sounds like a great idea, lots mess, but loads of fun!
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Author
Hi Karen,
The children (and I!) had so much fun it was worth the mess. I would not do this kind of activity just before I have people in for dinner, but on a Sunday, when they are due a bath anyway, messy play is not too bad! To be fair, they did stick to the paper (mostly), and I only had to wipe the high chair. Mel
Beautiful photos! You’ve made it all look so easy 😉 #letkidsbekids
Author
Thanks, it is really easy, I promise you! Just make sure you do it before the kids are due a bath, otherwise they will get the whole house sticky! I think I actually did it with them just before a load was due in the washing machine, too, and that ended up being a fun but stress-free activity. Let me know when you have tried it!
Mel
What gorgeous photos – it really does look good enough to eat! xx
Author
Thanks. It does not really taste that nice to me, but the little one could not stop eating it. It must be the sugar in it, bless her! x Mel
What a fabulous idea and one I haven’t come across before. I am definitely going to try this at the weekend. My mademoiselle is very creative and will love this, my boy will probably just enjoying eating it! It’s gonna be fun. Thanx for the idea
Author
Thanks, let me know how it goes! Mel
An amazing idea, I must try this with the girls. I have pinned in to Pinterest
Author
Thanks, your girls will love helping you make the paint, mix the colours and create some messy pictures! Mel
Awesome – edible finger paint – and why wouldn’t my kids want to try this? What a great idea, and thanks so much for joining the Parenting Pin it Party this week. xx
Author
No problem, I only found out about it yesterday! Hope your children enjoy their little finger painting session! Mel
Love this idea, I definitely have to try this with my two kids. Thank you ever so much for sharing. Great post. Thank you for joining in Share With Me linky. Love your post each week. Thanks for the support. #sharelinky
Author
No worries, Jenny. Let me know when you try it with your little ones! x Mel
Thank you fro this I know my daughter will love doing this #sharewithme
Author
I am glad you found this post useful. If you do try it, let me know! Mel
what an amazing idea, thanks for sharing #sharewithme x
This looks awesome! Definitely one to try- we love messy play and painting 🙂
x x x
Author
Thanks! Give me your thoughts once you have tried it. x Mel
Oh Mel, this looks amazing! I really wish I could enjoy this kind of messy play – it makes me squirm a little at the very thought of it! I need to chill out and just go for it! Such a brilliant, creative post! Xx #thethemegame
Author
I understand the feeling, I am like that, too! We only do messy play when the house is due a good clean. x Mel
Great idea – so much fun and safe! Little Man puts everything in his mouth! Thanks for sharing with #TheThemeGame x
Author
He would love this finger paint! Jumpy spent the entire time tasking the sweet paste. Mel
I haven’t tried this for ages, must give it a go! #TheThemeGame
What fun! Great to have a gluten free version too.
Author
Thanks Helen! Mel
Looks awesome! Hes been asking for paints lately as he can see me use mine. I cant let him use my acrylics cuz they are a bit .. they really stain. So i might try this. Its pricey to buy the food color tho but i think its okay as I can use it for some other cooking projects =) thanks for sharing this.
Author
He could use your acrylic paint if you supervise him. We did stamping rather than finger printing with the children because we did not have time to make finger paints at the end of the day and their ‘washable’ paint is not so washable (stains a lot actually!). It took minutes to do the stamping and I stayed with them the whole time to make sure they did not get covered in paint. Alternatively, if you want to make finger paints (check out my easy recipe!), food colouring is cheap in supermarkets. x Mel
What a great idea! Mushroom is old enough to use proper paint now but he’d love the texture of this I think, and being able to eat it! Briliant. We might have to do this as an activity (making the paint as well as using it!) next time we have a rainy day stuck indoors.
Author
It definitely is a fun activity to do with children. My older two really enjoyed the actual making process: measuring ingredients, choosing colours and mixing. They also enjoyed painting with their hands as much as the little one did! Mel
Hey, thanks so much for inspiration. We did it and made some fabulous Easter cards. Here is my post and my link to you – do you want me to post this elsewhere? Have also tweeted, hope that’s ok.
Brilliantly inspired cards, thnx for post xx
Author
I just read your post. Your little ones made great cards! I love the vibrant colours they used. Thanks for crediting me and putting my badge at the bottom of your post. x Mel