Homemade Finger Paint and First Finger Painting Experience!

Sophie and I had our first real cooking together experience last week and we both really enjoyed it.  We decided to make fingerpaint to use in our God Made Everything color book.

I searched Pinterest for a recipe for homemade fingerpaint and found a fabulous recipe at Easie Peasie.  Fortunately I had all the ingredients in my pantry, so I gathered them up and put them all on Sophie's table.  She helped me dump all the ingredients into the pan and stir it all up.  She really loves helping and did a great job!

She also had a great time playing in cornstarch that spilled on the table in the process!

While I was heating and stirring the paint on the stove, I gave Sophie some ice cubes to stir on the ground.  I kept wondering if heating it was doing anything to the liquidy mixture...it just didn't seem to be thickening.  But maybe about 5 minutes in it started getting gelatinous and when it thickened it did it quick!  I divided it out, mixed in our colors, and let it cool.

The whole process was really easy and took maybe 15 minutes (plus cooling time).  And I love that if (...when...) she tries to put it in her mouth there are no ingredients in it that will hurt her.

Now for the really fun part!  I put her yellow sun page out along with a container of the paint and showed her how I dipped my finger in and rubbed it across my paper.  It didn't take long for her to figure out how it worked!  I was worried she wouldn't like it because she's not usually a fan of having messy hands, but she really seemed to enjoy it.

I'm glad I braved the mess to try this fun activity!  It's definitely one we'll repeat.

This post is linked up at:

Tender Moments with Toddlers and Preschoolers at The Chaos and the Clutter